Sue: Which is the World for me?
by Derpachu
Summary: 1 year after events of Cave Story.  Sue struggles with inner turmoil.  She returns to the floating island to discover the truth about what has happened to her soul, and finds a new life waiting for her.  Reviews appreciated. NOW COMPLETE
1. Life's not the same

I sighed, and kicked a stone along the street. Today just wasn't my day.

Yesterday wasn't my day either. Or the day before. Or even the day before that. Heck, I haven't had a good day in over a year now.

My name is Sue. Sue Sakamoto. Just in case that clarifies anything.

If you're wondering why I'm so down, then you and I are in the same boat. I don't have any idea myself. All I know is that I used to be a carefree girl. I lived a normal teenage life, somewhat. My mother and brother are famous researchers, but that didn't weigh too heavily on my life at the time.

Then there was that day my mother gave me the news. We were going with her on a research expedition with a group of her colleagues.

My brother Kazuma was thrilled. We'd be researching Sky Dragons, a rare creature that lived only on the floating island over the sea. I have to say I was relatively excited myself. An expedition to a faraway place to study rare creatures was an interesting proposition.

One of my mother's colleagues was even more interested than she was. We don't speak his name anymore. We just call him "The Doctor."

Chances are you've already heard the story. The Doctor was secretly after an artifact known as the Demon Crown. He awakened the two entities associated with it, Balrog and Misery, and began to steal away the mimigas, the island's inhabitants, to perform his gruesome experiments on. He wanted to create a mutant army or something.

Things went badly. Misery attacked our camp, my mother barely escaped into the caves. The others scattered. Some were killed. I tried to run, but the witch Misery hurled a ball of light at me. I fell to the ground.

I woke up. I don't know how much later. All I know was that it didn't take me long to realize that I had lost over two feet of my height, and now possessed big, floppy ears and white fur.

I was a mimiga.

I did the only thing I could do. I found the other mimigas. I lived in their village, despite the disapproval of their leader. I soon found a way to get back to our research quarters, though the sky dragon project hardly held importance now.

Toroko was friendly. She was the only mimiga who openly trusted me. I spent time with her, since everyone else seemed hesitant.

Then Quote arrived. The rest is history.

If you don't know what happened after that, go find out for yourself. I don't have time to recount the whole adventure. All you gotta know is, the Doctor was defeated, the island was saved from crashing into the Earth, and Quote, his friend Curly, and the not so evil Balrog disappeared. Reunited with my mother, we quickly found a way to reverse the mimiga spell on me. We went home.

Happy ending, right? The bad guys are gone, the good guys are safe, there's nothing to worry about.

I just wish that was how I felt about it.

I've been safe at home for ages now. But my life never resumed; I never again felt like the Sue I was before that adventure. I still don't. I'm always depressed, I clearly don't feel like I belong here. But why? What's changed in me now since I lived here about a year ago?

I walked back into my house, threw my jacket haphazardly on the chair, and slumped down on the couch. I picked up a book, and started to read, but the words meant nothing. I put it down again. I flicked on the television, but nothing was appealing, and I soon turned it off.

This had been disturbingly normal for me lately. Nothing could hold my attention. Nothing could ease the constant nagging to go somewhere, do something… a place and thing that eluded me. I was utterly confused.

Mom walked by, and saw me moping on the couch again. Usually, she said something stupid, like "Perk up Sue, the world is waiting!" or "Chin up, buttercup." Junk like that. But today was different. Today, she walked silently over and sat down on the couch next to me.

I waved my fingers in an unenthusiastic greeting. Mom stared at me for a moment.

"Sue," she asked. "I'm done pretending that everything is alright. Something has been bothering you for a long time now. What is it?"

I looked at mom. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know the problem myself, and if I did, I wasn't sure I could put it in a way I could explain anyway. So, I responded with the only appropriate answer.

"It's nothing, mom."

She frowned. "You sit around, distracted and depressed, for a year, and you expect me to believe nothing is wrong?"

"It's just a bad day," I said. "A bad day at the end of a chain of several hundred bad days in a row."

Mom looked at me very hard. "Sue," she said finally. "Did… anything happen to you, on the floating island, that you haven't told me about? It was a bad experience for all of us, but did you deal with any particular trauma I haven't heard of?"

"My bad days started when I got turned into a mimiga," I said. "The only thing that I don't get is why they didn't end when I turned back."

My mother was concerned. "I don't know what to tell you," she said. "I'm a researcher, not a psychiatrist. All I can tell you is to try not to think about what happened on the floating island, and maybe you'll be able to begin to live normally again."

Mom stood up. "Let me know if you have anything else to say," she said, and she left the room to make dinner.

As I lie in bed that night, but didn't sleep. I thought about what mom had said, and how it was absolutely the opposite of what I was doing. I realized now that every day, my thoughts turned more and more to my days on the island.

I sat up. I climbed out of bed. I knew what had to be done. There was only one way to quiet this storm in my psyche.

I changed out of my nightclothes. I threw my possessions into a duffel bag. I scrawled a note and left it on my bed.

"Dear Mom and Kazuma,

Left for the Floating Island. Not coming back unless I can figure out what part of me I left behind there.

-Sue"


	2. My Quest, My Purpose

I grabbed the keys to the helicopter.

True, I had no idea how to fly the thing, but I didn't have time to learn. I had to get away. Now.

Obviously, as soon as I started the engine, mom and Kazuma would wake up. So I had a very small window to get off the ground. If they caught me I wouldn't get away. I would have to continue this existence of mine here. And at the moment, I couldn't bear this life.

I sat in the seat of the helicopter. I sat there for a few minutes, gazing at the controls, trying to get a feel for the workings of the thing. My hand shook as I placed the key into the ignition. I knew as soon as I turned it, there could be no going back, and no room for error. After a few seconds, I turned it anyway.

The engine rumbled to life, and the blades of the helicopter began to spin. Luckily, I was rather intuitive with machines, (perhaps I hung out with Kazuma too much?) and I had figured out how to keep the copter in one place as it rose slowly upwards.

I was about 50 feet off the ground when, just as I expected, mom came running from the house. She was yelling something, but I couldn't hear her over the roar of the blades. I'm glad for that. It wasn't something I needed to deal with right now.

Kazuma came out of the house a few moments later, a bit confused as to what was going on. Mom yelled something again and pointed, and Kazuma looked dumbstruck.

I didn't wait around to see anymore. I tilted the controls forward, and the helicopter took off into the skies.

It occurred to me about then that I had no idea in which direction the floating island was. Interestingly, and probably as a result of adrenaline, this fact seemed only a minor setback. One I could easily cope with. It seemed my body already knew where to go anyway. For no apparent reason, I would occasionally change course, somehow inherently sure that I was headed in the right direction.

An hour passed. Then another. I flew over moonlit landscapes, valleys and mountains I had never seen before, yet I pressed on as calmly as if I flew the copter every day and was simply taking it down to run a few errands.

Time continued to go by. Soon, the sun began to come up. I was now flying over a vast forest, when suddenly the location for which I had been searching came into view. There, on the horizon, was the floating island.

Landing was harder than I anticipated. I managed to get the helicopter down safely, but it got a bit dented in the process. I stepped out and stared at the landscape around me.

I was on the balcony, the place where we had first landed when we came here a year ago. Now, for the first time, I considered what I planned to do now that I had arrived. I couldn't face the mimigas; they wouldn't understand, wouldn't recognize the girl who had briefly entered their presence now that she was again a human.

I thought of Quote, but realized that he, Curly, and Balrog had set off for parts unknown. Everyone else I had met on the island was a member of my own family, and obviously, they were at home, enjoying their normal lives, something I could no longer do.

Was I then doomed to wonder the island alone, a nomad searching for meaning? I knew I needed to be here; I had become very sure of that. But if no one was here to help me find the truth I was searching for, then how could I hope to find it?

I sat on the bricks, staring off into the morning sky. My abrupt quest had reached an abrupt end.

Suddenly, it hit me; there was one more person on the island, and that was the person I needed to talk to. There was one person left who might be able to help me find some answers. It would be risky to confront this person. The last time we had met, things had not gone well. But this had no bearing on my decision. I had to find her.

I began to seek out Misery.


	3. Can Misery aid my misery?

I decided to try the obvious first.

I distinctly remembered Misery having a throne room of sorts just a short ways up the balcony. I didn't know if the room was still in use, but there was no reason not to check.

I was still being led on by impulses. They had led me to the island, and now they were leading me to Misery, two things my mind would not have considered doing. I really didn't like the island at all, as far as I could remember. I remember saying to quote, "I hate this island and every living thing on it!"

It wasn't true. My family was on the island. Toroko was on the island. But still, I said a lot of things I didn't mean in order to deal with my present bad situation.

I got to Misery's throne room. The great stone chair sat in the center, but Misery wasn't there. I had no way of knowing if the witch lived here anymore. She could have, and simply been out at the moment. Or she could have abandoned the room after she was freed from the spell of the Demon Crown. I turned around and left, heading for the nearest entrance to the vast network of caves.

So now I had determined that had returned to the place I hated to seek out the being who had cursed me. To my mind, it made no sense at all, but my mind was too lethargic from my recent depression to argue with the random impulses leading me on.

I dropped down, landing with a crunch in a garden patch in the plantation. The area was mostly deserted now, the enslaved mimigas who had worked here before had now all returned safely to the Mimiga Village. I began to wonder which way to go next, but I didn't have to make a decision.

An immediately recognizable figure flew overhead. I realized my chance and called.

"Hey! Misery!"

The witch stopped in mid flight and swooped down. I had not spoken to misery since I became human again, and since she was freed from the Crown's power. I had no idea if she would recognize me, or how she would act.

She landed in front of me, and sized me up with a confused glance.

"You look… familiar. But… what's another human doing on the island now?"

I crossed my arms. "Come on now, Misery, don't you remember? The doctor turned the both of us into his minions for that last battle with Quote."

The memory hit Misery immediately. "Then you're Sue? But I thought I turned you into a mimiga!"

I smirked. "My mother's science knowledge was able to undo that quickly enough."

Misery stared at me. "Well… come back to my chamber I guess." She said finally. "We can talk."

There was a flash of light, and Misery and I were suddenly standing in the throne room again.

"Now," said Misery, still eyeing me suspiciously. "Why did you return? What do you want from me? You can't possibly want me to break the spell on you, because you've already had that taken care of."

I wasn't really sure what to say. Heck, I still had no idea why I had searched Misery out in the first place. So that's exactly what I told her.

Misery scowled. "You come all the way back here and track me down to tell me you don't have anything in particular to say to me?"

"Well," I corrected. "It's not that I have nothing to say. I just have no idea why I decided to say it to you. My gut just kind of commanded it."

"Fine," she mumbled, twirling her staff between her fingers. "What is it then?"

I thought hard about what I wanted to say. "It's just… ever since the incident on the island, I haven't been able to readjust to my life. Everything is exactly how it was before I even visited this place, but I don't feel the same there anymore. The only conclusion I could come to is that something changed about me on this island, and the only way I could get my life back on track, back on _any _track, would be to come here and find out what that is."

Misery nodded. "Cute sob story, but why come to me? I'm certainly not going to shower your sad life with meaning."

"You seemed the only logical person to bring this to," I said. "I can't take it to the mimigas; I'm not a mimiga anymore. Quote, Curly, and Balrog aren't here. That leaves you."

Misery frowned. "I'm not sure I have anything to offer you," she said. "That whole incident with the doctor went badly for all of us. My mother is probably more into the sentimental stuff, but I'm not sure you were even acquainted with her."

As I soon learned, the old woman, Jenka, was Misery's mother. I had never met Jenka, but Quote had told me about her briefly. Quote apparently knew about this relationship himself.

"I don't need to talk to Jenka," I said. "Jenka had nothing to do with what happened to me here. You're the only one left who did."

"But what do you want me to do about it?" Misery asked, clearly getting exasperated. "I have no words of wisdom to calm your soul! It's not like I turned into a being of perpetual joy or some such nonsense as soon as the Demon Crown was destroyed! I'm still just the same Misery! So, if you want something from me, all I can do is slap you around and tell you to get over it!"

I was shocked by what came out of my mouth next. Nothing up to this point indicated at all that this was even an option. But somehow, to my own complete shock, I said it anyway.

"Or you could turn me back into a mimiga."

Misery stared blankly at me for several seconds. "Why on Earth would you want me to do that?" she asked incredulously. "I thought you _hated _being a mimiga."

I started to respond, "I did," but the random forces that had led me to do all this other stuff told me to refrain. I started to think aloud about it. Misery listened carefully.

"After I was first turned into a mimiga, all I cared about was changing back again and getting off the island. I assumed that was the only option, and had to be accomplished immediately. I put no thought toward the fact that I was a mimiga, because all I concentrated on for the whole ordeal was changing back and getting away. I assumed, without checking to see if my psyche agreed with me, that that was exactly what I wanted. But as soon as I returned home, human again and free from all the troubles of the island, I felt worse. So I'm just now starting to wonder… could I have missed something important about myself while I was here?"

Misery seemed to catch on. "Are you saying…" she said tentatively. "That perhaps, you _wanted _to be a mimiga, but didn't notice it in your haste to return to normal?"

"Sort of," I responded. "I don't think I always wanted that though. I was satisfied with my life before coming here. So why…"

Misery cut me off with a long, loud laugh. "I get it now!" she squealed in devious delight. "Your mother changed your _body _back to a human, but she can't change the fact that on the _inside, _you've been a mimiga since the day I cast a spell on you. You don't feel comfortable in your own human skin anymore, because truthfully, regardless of your outside appearance, you aren't a human! You're a mimiga!"

Misery doubled over in laughter. Clearly, her previous remark about herself was true; just because she's no longer cursed doesn't mean she has to go around sympathizing with people.

I considered the fact for a moment. It seemed pretty clear that the witch's explanation was right on target. I considered whether I should be mad at Misery, but decided that the fault belonged more with the doctor for ordering this, and he'd already gotten his just desserts.

Misery finally quieted down. I looked her seriously in the eyes.

"I want to test it," I said resolutely. "I think you may be right. I want to find out if it's true."

A tight smile formed on Misery's face. "Fine by me, girl," she said. "Here we go."

She waved her staff, engulfing me in a sphere of white light. It lasted only a few seconds, but when it cleared, the transformation was obvious; I didn't even have to look at myself.

I was, once again, a mimiga.


	4. The Newest Mimiga

It took only a few seconds for me to realize Misery's theory was exactly right. A quiet, but strong sort of feeling of victory was creeping rapidly through me. I felt energy returning to my body. After such a long period of a lack of any real drive, the sudden rush of empowerment, of motivation, felt fantastic.

I turned my head up to see Misery's reaction. But the witch had flown away immediately, laughing. Obviously, she didn't plan to change me back if I decided I didn't want to be a mimiga after all. At least, not anytime soon.

I sighed, figuring that with some effort I'd be able to track her down again if I needed her. But at the moment that wasn't likely.

I wondered immediately where I should go, what I should do now. Not in the vaguely searching way of my previous self, but in the aggressive, go-getter sort of way that had been characteristic of me for most of my life. I felt stronger, and more ready for some sort of action.

You may think that a transformation from a taller human to a small mimiga wouldn't make one feel stronger, but it does. I felt physically stronger in several regards. My thin, relatively weak human legs had been replaced with shorter, but much stronger rabbit-like mimiga ones. My hearing was of course better, as was to be expected by the size of mimiga ears.

More importantly, I felt stronger mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Misery spoke the truth; I was a mimiga now, and in the body of a mimiga, (now that I stopped to think about it,) I actually did feel far more comfortable than in my human form.

The only downside was that I would need to live here, with mimigas, rather than with my family…

I gasped; a horrible thought had just occurred to me. Mom and Kazuma wouldn't just leave me here; within a day they'd probably arrive on the island themselves, and do everything in their power to take me home and change me back again. They might even bring along Professor Booster. I swear that man can practically sniff me out of need be.

I couldn't face that. The idea of returning to that life I'd just discovered I could no longer deal with caused me to become faint with revulsion. I _had _to find someplace where I could avoid their search.

But I couldn't just go live on some far-off corner of the island. That would kind of defeat the point of becoming a mimiga in the first place. I planned to go live in the mimiga village. I just needed to make sure that when my family came looking there, I was hidden and the others faked ignorance.

That would be hard to do. I was basically starting a new life; cutting myself off from anyone that had mattered to me. It was a sad thought. But, like I said before, I had no desire for revenge, since the person ultimately behind this change in my soul was the Doctor, who perished at Quote's hands a year ago.

I really didn't have any other options. I would try to join in with a small group of mimigas, and do what I could to avoid the searches of the others.

I wandered down to the plantation again. Somewhere around here, there was a teleporter that would take me to Arthur's House, the place we had used as a temporary headquarters after the Doctor took over.

I soon found the old machine, stepped inside, and a moment later found myself standing in the dim interior of Arthur's House. The computer sat untouched nearby. I wondered vaguely if I could use it to reactivate all the individual teleport destinations, which were active the last time I was here. Perhaps I could use it to go to Grasstown, where I'd heard a few other mimigas lived.

Cautiously, I opened the door, and peered out of Arthur's House. The village was far more crowded than it had ever been while I was there before. Most of them didn't know me, but I hoped to find a few who did. My first objective would be to go to the meeting hall, where I would likely find Jack. Since King perished trying to protect Toroko, Jack had become the number 1, as they called it, in the mimiga village. If anyone could bring me up to speed on the events of the last year, it was him.

I hopped easily up the unusual steep surfaces of the village, and soon arrived at the meeting hall. Opening the door, I immediately saw Jack speaking with Mahin, the rather overweight mimiga I'd spoken to once or twice. He looked even fatter now then I remembered.

"No, Mahin," said Jack in exasperation. "I'm not going to double the portions available at the food hall. The Yamashita farm can barely grow enough to support the village with how much you eat."

Mahin looked sad, but he nodded and walked out, pulling out another flower-filled sandwich to munch on as he left.

"My gosh," said Jack quietly. "Does he _ever _stop eating?"

"Not as long as I've known him," I chimed in from the doorway.

"I know, right?" Jack responded. "I mean he's…"

Jack turned to look at me and stopped in mid-sentence. "S… Sue?" he asked. "But… but I thought… after the doctor… the others took you away and…"

I briefly explained to Jack everything that had happened since the end of the ordeal with the doctor. I didn't go into detail about precisely why I had decided to come back; many mimigas aren't good with that sort of deep stuff.

Jack nodded. "Well, it's good to see you again, Sue," he said. "I'll be perfectly willing to let you become a citizen of the village, what with all the help you and your friends were back then. As long as…" he paused briefly. "You _are _staying this time, right?"

I nodded. "Yep, I've come to apply for permanent residency."

Jack smiled. "Well, that's nice then! Just give me a day or so to get some papers ready. Drop by tomorrow and give me a signature, and you're good to go."

"Ok," I responded. "So, how do I get a house? Do I need to get a job or something?"

"Well, if you want Arthur's House," Jack said. "That would save you considerable trouble. No one's using it, so you can make that your official home, which saves us the trouble of finding you a standard one."

I couldn't believe my luck. I immediately agreed.

"Great!" said Jack. "Then, I'll see you soon. Welcome back, Sue."

I turned to leave. "Wait," said Jack suddenly. "I forgot one thing. Do you know Kanpachi?"

I remembered the mimiga. He was a timid fellow, who liked to sit at the reservoir, fishing. We'd only seen each other a few times, and exchanged but a few short sentences of greeting.

"Well, I know who he is," I responded. "But that's about it."

An interesting look appeared in Jack's eye. "Well, if you're looking for someone to spend some time with while getting to know people around the village, maybe you should talk to him. Just saying."

Jack smiled a little mischievously and went back to work.

I wandered out of the building, thinking about it. Why Kanpachi in particular, out of all the mimigas? I had no idea, but he was as good a start as anyone in getting to know people.

I headed for the reservoir.


	5. Much ado about Kanpachi

I was amazed. The change in my mood over the course of the last hour or so was incredible.

I was practically skipping down the grassy path to the reservoir. I felt lighthearted and ready to go enjoy myself. It was amazing that I felt I'd much rather face some random mimiga I'd met only once or twice before than my own family.

Bad as it may sound, I casually shrugged it off. There was nothing I could do about it now.

I soon saw the sparkling water source in front of me, and I could make out the figure of a mimiga perched on the end of the dock. Kanpachi, obviously.

I strode up behind him. He knew I was there. He didn't bother to turn around.

"Mahin, I told you already. I haven't caught any fish for your sandwich yet. Go away."

I chuckled softly at Kanpachi's assumption that I was Mahin. "I think you may be talking about someone else," I said with a laugh.

Kanpachi turned around so fast, I barely even saw him move. He gazed up at me from his seated position on the dock.

"Sue?" he said finally. "But… but…"

"But I'm not supposed to be here?" I asked him. "I know. But that's changed now. I just moved back into the village. Jack said I should come and hang out with you."

"Jack said…" Kanpachi started. He processed the information for a moment, and muttered, "Oh."

He stood up. "Well… erm… hi." He said awkwardly. "How… um… how've you been, Sue?"

The fishing mimiga seemed very nervous for some reason. I wondered if something was wrong.

"Kanpachi, are you nervous about something?"

"No!" Kanpachi answered quickly, (and a little too loudly). "No, I'm… just fine."

He finally managed to look me in the eye, and blushed so hard it was visible even behind his white fur.

I understood immediately. This was the reason Jack had sent me down here. He'd known about this all along.

Kanpachi had a crush on me.

"I just remembered," I said suddenly. "Jack wanted me to check on one other thing for him. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright," said Kanpachi, plopping back down and picking up his rod. "Um… goodbye then, Sue."

"Bye," I responded, marching quickly away from the reservoir.

In a few short bounds, I was back at the meeting house.

"Jack!" I yelled in annoyance. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jack smiled deviously at me, at least until I grabbed him and hoisted him up by his shirt. "Why didn't you tell me I was supposed to go see Kanpachi because he had a crush on me?"

"Aw, come on, Sue," Jack pleaded. "Is it that much of a problem? I just wanted to find out how Kanpachi would react to you returning."

I set Jack down. "Where did this come from, anyway?" I asked. "I hardly knew Kanpachi. Why on Earth would he have a crush on me?"

"I don't know where it came from," said Jack. "He's been talking to me about you a lot, though. Apparently, he thought you were really cute when he first saw you. He likes how you can be loud and buoyant sometimes, soft and gentle occasionally, and generally friendly, at least to those who are nice to you. It was just one of those out of the blue situations where you meet the girl of your dreams all of a sudden, and she barely knows you exist. You're usually pretty confident, and Kanpachi's shy and a little antisocial, so of course he didn't have the guts to say anything to you."

"So, he hasn't stopped mentioning me over the past year?"

"Oh, you didn't come up in conversation that often, but Kanpachi still occasionally remarks that he kind of misses you. He's probably really happy and also incredibly nervous about your return."

"That explains why he seemed kind of ticked off when I mentioned your name,"

"Mentioned my…" Jack started. "Oh, dang it Sue, why did you have to bring me up? Kanpachi's gonna be really ticked off with me now…"

"It's your own fault," I said scathingly. "You instigated this thing."

"Alright, look," said Jack. "I know you wanna get to know some mimigas around here, but while you're at it, could you at least give Kanpachi a chance? He's a good buddy of mine, and he'd probably have a breakdown or something if you decide you want nothing to do with him."

I thought about it for a second. In fact, there was nothing wrong with Kanpachi at all. The only reason I left so abruptly was because I discovered he liked me, and I wanted to go and yell at Jack.

"He seems like an okay mimiga," I responded. "I'll give him a chance. I just don't know how to handle the situation really. The fact that I know he likes me but he doesn't know I know makes things complicated."

Jack put up his hands defensively. "Don't look at me for advice," he said. "I'm a guy. I might be able to help out Kanpachi when he comes to yell at me later, but as for you… I got no idea how to handle things from your end."

"Well, that's great," I muttered. "So what can I do about it? If Kanpachi finds out I know he likes me, he'll be so embarrassed he'll probably just stay away from me forever."

Jack rubbed his chin in thought. "You know," he said. "There may be one person you can talk to. If you're a female mimiga caught in a weird relationship situation, there's no one better to help you then Chaco. At least, that's what the other girls say."

I had met Chaco briefly when the mimigas were all captured by the doctor. She was a very unusual mimiga, with an extremely bubbly and perky personality, and bright lavender colored fur, which was very, very rare. Other than her, I'd never seen a mimiga who wasn't white.

"Alright," I said. "Where does Chaco live?"

"She lives in a large house in Grasstown," answered Jack. "It's a pretty long way away."

"Not by teleporter," I responded. "If I can get the one in Arthur's house hooked up to Grasstown, I'll be there in an instant!"

"That works," said Jack. "Sorry for the trouble I caused, Sue. Good luck."

"Thanks," I said. "See you later, Jack. I'm going to Grasstown."


	6. A Visit To Chaco

I appeared suddenly in Grasstown, scaring the living daylights out of a mimiga standing near the teleporter.

"Sorry," I said as I went over to ensure he was okay.

"It's fine…" he said, catching his breath. "I just didn't know the teleporter was working anymore."

"I just reactivated it from the mimiga village, actually." I responded. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not a problem," he answered. "I haven't seen you around here before though." He held out is hand in greeting. "My name is Santa by the way. Welcome to Grasstown."

I shook his hand. "I'm Sue. Nice to meet you, Santa. I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find a mimiga named Chaco?"

"Chaco?" asked Santa. "She lives just a short ways into Grasstown. Her house is kind of hard to miss, since you either have to pass through it or climb over it to get to the rest of the area. Just keep walking, and the first house you come to is Chaco's."

"Sounds easy enough," I responded. "Thanks, Santa. I'll see you later."

"Oh, one last thing," he called as I walked off. "Be careful of the jellyfish!"

The jellyfish, as it turned out, floated around in the air in some parts of Grasstown. I stayed low to the ground, avoiding most of them. After a few minutes, I arrived at the house that I knew must be Chaco's. Honestly, it didn't look very inviting. It was an awkward, asymmetrical building, built of dark brick and with bats roosting on some of the upper surfaces. I hesitated, but shelved by doubts and knocked on the door.

There was silence for a few moments, and the door creaked open.

Santa was correct; this was indeed Chaco's house. The gleeful purple mimiga was wearing a cute scarlet bow in her hair, and was smiling warmly. No wonder Chaco supposedly knew a lot about relationships; boys probably flocked to her. She was adorable.

"Hi Chaco," I said. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Sue!" Chaco exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since the Doctor captured us all! Come in, come in! Tell me how you've been!"

Chaco practically pulled me into her abode, which was far more charming on the inside than out. Her lower floor was tiny, just a small foyer with a hall table and a staircase. Once I went upstairs, however, I found a cozy, furnished room, with a large bed, a small table with a few chairs, a bookshelf, and a tall, roaring fireplace.

Chaco sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for me to sit as well. She produced a plate of cookies from somewhere and set them on the table for us to eat while we talked.

"So Sue," said Chaco with a friendly smile. "Have you been on the island this whole time, or did you go back with your family for awhile?"

Chaco was the only (living) mimiga besides Jack who knew I was not originally a mimiga myself. Unlike Jack, however, Chaco had figured it out for herself. This kind of personal perception was almost as rare for mimigas as her unusual color was. Chaco was a pretty unique mimiga in several areas, so it seemed.

"I did return with my family," I said. "In fact, I even found a way to become a human again. But recently I decided to come back, and to return to mimiga form. I think I realized I might be more mimiga than human after all."

Chaco nodded understandingly. This kind of talk would leave most mimigas baffled, but Chaco knew where I was coming from.

"Well, I think it's a great decision if it makes you happy, Sue," the violet mimiga responded. "So, was there a particular reason you decided to visit today?"

I paused to take a bite of a cookie before responding. "Yeah actually. I seem to be in a bit of a fix back in the mimiga village. Jack got me into a weird situation with another mimiga I know…"

Chaco cut me off. "…And now you're trapped in an awkward relationship situation, and someone recommended me as an advisor, right?"

Once again, Chaco was one step ahead of me.

"…Exactly." I said once I got over the surprise. "Specifically, there's a mimiga in the village who seems to like me, but I hardly know him. I want to know how to approach him, because if he finds out I know he likes me before I really get to know him, he'll probably be very embarrassed. He's a shy sort."

"I see," said Chaco. "It's actually a fairly common situation you have there, Sue. What's happened between you two so far? How'd you come to realize this situation?"

"Well, it was Jack's fault." I said with a little annoyance. "Jack knew that this mimiga had a crush on me, so when I returned to the village, he sent me to meet him. He was all nervous when I talked to him, and when I asked him about it he started blushing and…"

Chaco slapped her face in annoyance. "Sue…" she groaned. "Why on Earth would you _acknowledge _that you noticed his nervousness? There's hardly a better way to make a boy _more _uncomfortable than by telling him he seems uncomfortable."

All I could say was, "Oh." I honestly didn't have any experience with this, which is why I had come to Chaco in the first place. So apparently, I had already made one mistake.

Chaco soon smiled again, however. "Don't get your ears in a twist about it, Sue," she said. "We can work around it."

"Really?" I asked. "So… what should I do?"

"Well," said Chaco. "Like you said, we're dealing with a shy sort here, and he's already on edge about the whole thing, so before you can do much of anything you have to get him out of that little cage of stupefying fear he's locked himself into."

"How?"

"Well, you've gotta show some interest in his life, first of all. Get him to talk about himself and things he likes to do. And it wouldn't help to have a little knowledge about those things yourself, so you can respond. If he feels like you and he are on the same page, he'll open up a little more."

"Well, he loves to fish." I said. "He fishes almost constantly."

"See, that's it right there!" said Chaco. "Ask him what he's caught, what he's fishing for, maybe some questions about the equipment he uses. He'll probably become much more talkative if you go right to that subject. From there, you might be able to come into some other topics, and before you know it, the two of you will be friends. Then, if he finds out you know his secret, the emotional blow won't be nearly as hard."

This seemed to be excellent advice. "I'll try it Chaco. And thanks a lot for the help!"

"Oh, it's never a problem, Sue! Be sure to drop by if you ever need something like this again!"

I finished eating my third cookie, and stood up to leave. "Oh, don't go now!" Chaco pleaded. "It's getting late. Why don't you stay the night, and you can go back to the village in the morning!"

I didn't want to take advantage of Chaco's fantastic hospitality, but she persisted and I soon agreed. Chaco pulled down a trapdoor in the ceiling, revealing a stairway to a small, cozy attic with a guest bed made up. I snuggled in and fell right to sleep.

I was awakened in the morning by the sound of a knock at the door of the house. I sleepily walked down to Chaco's 2nd floor. The other mimiga was already awake and dressed. "I got the door, Sue. Don't worry." She said as she walked down to her foyer.

I sat at the table and waited. I could easily hear what was going on downstairs.

The door opened, and I heard Chaco say, "Hello! Can I help you?"

"Yes," came the familiar voice of the person at the door. "My name is Momorin Sakamoto. Have you seen a young girl named Sue?"

I froze in fear. I had almost completely forgotten about my family arriving to look for me, and they had been very prompt, too. Now they were standing just outside this house. In a matter of seconds, I would be given away, and then I'd have a major problem on my hands.

"No, Mrs. Sakamoto. I haven't seen a young girl around here. I'm sorry."

I sat silently in disbelief. Could Chaco really have analyzed me so perfectly to know that I didn't want my family to know where I was?

"I see. Sorry to bother you, ma'am." Came mom's voice. The door closed.

Chaco walked back upstairs looking proud of herself.

"How did you…?" I asked weakly. Chaco just giggled. "Oh, I could just tell you didn't want to deal with them right now. Better yet, I told the truth. I haven't seen any young girls named Sue around here. Just a young _mimiga _named Sue."

We both laughed. "Thank you, Chaco." I said wholeheartedly. "For everything."

"Think nothing of it!" said Chaco. "Those others were headed deeper into Grasstown, so now would be an excellent time for you to get back to the village, I think."

I thanked Chaco again before stepping outside and bounding back toward the teleporter as quickly as my mimiga legs would carry me.


	7. Loosen up, Kanpachi!

I had something important to discuss with Jack.

I entered the meeting hall to find Jack sitting at his desk polishing the lenses of his goggles. He didn't look up as I entered.

"Hey Jack," I said, standing a few feet from his desk. Jack jumped a little, and quickly placed the goggles back on his head before turning to look at me.

"Sue," he said. "Sorry, I didn't notice you come in. I'm almost blind without these goggles. My eyesight is terrible, so I need these strong lenses to see correctly."

I had always thought Jack's helmet and goggle combo was just for show, but I decided not to comment.

"Anyway, Jack," I said. "I wanted to talk to you…"

"Hang on," said Jack. "There's something very important you have to know first. Your family has been around. They're looking for you."

This was what I had planned to talk to Jack about anyway. "Yeah, about that," I continued. "I'm sure they talked to you. What did you say?"

"I let them know you had headed for Grasstown."

I figured Jack would have told them this. It meant using Arthur's House as a home had just become significantly more complicated.

"Jack," I said. "I don't want my family to find me right now, ok? So if you see them again, please tell them you haven't seen me lately. Alright?"

"Sure," said Jack. He didn't question why; normal behavior for a mimiga.

"By the way…" I continued. "Who all is looking for me?"

"There were three people," said Jack. "A tall woman, who I assumed was your mother, your brother Kazuma, who I met once before, and that funny little man with the bright red glasses."

I was worried about that; they had brought Professor Booster along after all.

"Thanks, Jack. That's all I wanted to say."

I turned to leave, but Jack called after me.

"Did you talk to Chaco?"

"I did," I answered, turning back around. "Did you talk to Kanpachi?"

"Well, he talked to me…" said Jack with a sheepish smile. "He stormed in here a few hours after I last saw you, and yelled at me for a good 15 minutes for sending you down there. If he knew I was telling you this, he'd yell at me twice as long, so keep it quiet, alright?"

"Of course," I said. "Next time I visit Kanpachi, I'm going to be using a bit more tact."

Jack grinned and went back to work, and I left.

I was cautious while outdoors in the mimiga village. I didn't know when mom, Kazuma, and Booster would be coming back, and I couldn't let them find me. On the other hand, I was eager to try out Chaco's methods on Kanpachi. I risked a trip to the reservoir, hoping I wouldn't be in immediate danger of being found there.

Kanpachi was sitting on the dock as usual. I walked up slowly behind him, and eventually sat down on the dock near him, my feet dangling over the water a bit.

Kanpachi glanced over and saw me sitting there. He gasped softly when he realized who I was. "Um… Hi Sue." He said after a few seconds. "What're you doing here?"

I remembered what Chaco said; turn the topic to him and his fishing as quickly as possible.

"I just came down to look at the lake," I said. "I guess you fish here all the time, huh? Have you caught anything lately?"

Kanpachi looked surprised at the question, but he slowly reached over and grabbed his bucket. Inside, several silvery fish flopped weakly around.

"Wow," I said. "Did you catch all these today? You must be an expert!"

Kanpachi blushed a little. "Um… I'm not trying to brag, but these are just the ones Mahin hasn't taken for his sandwiches. Which is to say, about a third of what I actually caught are left here."

I was genuinely impressed. "You really are an expert! Do you catch other types of fish here, too?"

Chaco's method was working like a dream; in just a minute or two, Kanpachi was noticeably more comfortable, simply because we had been talking about fish.

In a slightly stronger voice than he had been speaking before, Kanpachi answered me, discussing types of fish large and small, fast and slow, strong and weak, and how he normally went about catching them. I could tell he was really passionate on the subject.

Nearly an hour passed. I asked Kanpachi some general questions and allowed him to go off and tell whatever sort of story he liked. While at it, he actually managed to catch a few fish, and show them to me as examples.

"I'm surprised, Sue," he said during one pause in conversation. "I didn't know you were interested in the subject."

In reality, it wasn't exactly something I was particularly enthralled about, but the fact that I'd made Kanpachi think so meant Chaco's tactic had worked. The fishing mimiga seemed to have almost forgotten that he was talking to his crush. I wanted to ask him a few more questions before leaving for the day and figuring out what to do next time.

"So then," I began. "You've told me about all these fish. Is there any one fish you've never caught, or some kind of fishing goal you're after?"

"There is!" Kanpachi said excitedly. "I almost forgot! It's the reason I fish so resolutely every day!"

This caught my attention. I listened as Kanpachi talked; he was bursting with excitement.

"There's one fish who lives in this reservoir who I've yet to catch. All the other fish restock slowly through breeding, or flowing in from the island's artery. So I catch plenty of those. But then there's the chinfish. He's a bright orange fish that's almost as big as me. The reason that the chinfish is so interesting is that there's only one!"

"Only one? But where did he come from?"

"I don't know. All I know is he is the ultimate catch from this reservoir."

At that moment, as if to prove Kanpachi's point, a bright orange shape burst out of the water a few hundred feet away, before splashing back down.

Kanpachi smiled. "I see you, chinfish! It's only a matter of time until you're mine!"

"Well," I said standing up. "That was really fun, Kanpachi. I'll see you a little later."

"Wait," said Kanpachi. He was sounding a little hesitant again. "I was wondering, Sue… since you seem to have a little interest in fishing and all… if maybe… you wanna fish with me next time?"

Kanpachi shuffled his feet shyly, but the fact that he'd worked up the nerve to ask me to join him again surprised me. I immediately agreed, and Kanpachi's face lit up.

"Great! I'll bring an extra rod down, and you can drop by whenever you have time!"

Kanpachi went back to fishing, humming happily to himself.

As I walked away, I resolved to let Chaco know that she was seriously some kind of romance guru. Her plan had worked to absolute perfection.

I didn't have time to think about it much. As I left the reservoir I bumped into someone.

"Excuse me, I didn't see…" I started as I turned to look at whoever I had run into. But I didn't finish my sentence; my breath had caught in my throat.

It was Professor Booster.


	8. Professor Booster's Proposition

I was kind of angry with myself. I'd only lasted two days, and then I'd let my guard down. Now I was standing face to face with old Professor Booster, which meant Kazuma and my mom were probably not far behind.

But Professor Booster didn't seem to be paying attention. He dusted himself off, mumbled some sort of inaudible apology for running into me, and continued along.

I suddenly realized that my family was looking for a human Sue, not a mimiga Sue. Professor Booster had seen me as a mimiga before, but wasn't examining mimigas to look for me. I had gotten lucky.

But then, a few feet away, the professor stopped. He sniffed the air curiously, and then slowly turned around and sized me up more carefully.

Like I said before; the man is like a bloodhound for some reason.

I turned to run, but the professor grabbed me by the collar of my sweater.

"Sue," he said. "I nearly missed you, girl. What are you doing, running away here? Your mother's worried sick. And why on Earth are you a mimiga again?"

"Let me go, Professor," I growled. "I'm not going back to them. I'm staying here."

"I don't have the foggiest idea why you'd try to do that," said Booster, as if his lack of understanding proved I was wrong. "Tell me what's going on. Why did you come back here? And how did you manage to become a mimiga again? It took your mother ages to restore your DNA last time."

"I don't have to tell you anything," I said defiantly.

I figured the Professor would simply become fed up and drag me back to wherever mom and Kazuma were. His actual reaction surprised me.

The professor let go of me. "Alright, Sue," he said. "Obviously, you don't want to go back. It won't do you any good to run now, though. As soon as I tell your mother, it will be only a matter of time until we track you down. So there's that option. But if you want me to, say, conveniently forget I've seen you, maybe you'll help me out with a little proposition…"

I was shocked. What could the professor possibly want that would make him agree to keep quiet about me?

"I'm listening."

"I have a little story for you," said the professor. "Did you know that when we were all on this island a year ago, I too was captured by the witch Misery?"

"No," I answered truthfully. "If Misery found you, how did you escape?"

"I'm getting to that. That witch tossed me into the labyrinth. I was severely injured. I thought I was going to die down there. I saw Quote go by, but he was high above on another level of the labyrinth, and he didn't see me. I waited quietly, painfully, for my injuries to bring about the end of my life. And then… _she _showed up."

"She?"

"A little old woman. She somehow got me out of there, to her home in the sand zone. She treated my injuries, fed me, allowed me to stay there for a few days. She almost never spoke though. At least I got her name. It was Jenka."

Jenka. Misery's mother, and doubtlessly the most powerful magical being on the island. I personally didn't know the woman, but I knew how to find her.

"Anyway," said Booster. "One day the old woman just helped me to the teleporter and I wound up back in Arthur's house. Those days have haunted me since. I need to return there to thank her for her care and hospitality."

"So…" I said hesitantly. "If I help you find Jenka, you'll keep quiet about my location and current form?"

"I will," said Booster. "It is selfish, yes, but I feel I owe Jenka a visit to express my gratitude. I warn you though, I will take no measures to help you or keep your mother away. I won't ask what you're motives are any further if you help me."

I considered the offer. It didn't seem like a lot of effort to guide Professor Booster to the Sand Zone, and I'd have one less person on the lookout for me.

"Does it have to be immediately?" I asked. "I want to make sure the trip goes smoothly, so maybe another time?"

The Professor furrowed his brow in thought. "You have a week. If you don't return to take me by then, I shall let your mother know you're around, and you will be hunted down. I'm giving you a chance to pursue this crazy goal of yours. Don't disappoint me, Miss Sakamoto."

Professor Booster hobbled away. "And one more thing!" he called. "As you might expect, we've been using Arthur's house as a base. So you'll have to be sneaky about living nearby or using the teleporter!"

He disappeared up the ridge. I needed to make sure I appeased him before I could focus any more on matters of my new life. But I couldn't research or explore the Sand Zone right now; at the moment, I realized I was ravenously hungry.

Other than a few rations I had brought from home and those cookies at Chaco's, I hadn't had anything to eat since arriving at the island over 48 hours ago. I decided to check out the mimiga village a little more thoroughly, and see if I could find a restaurant.

And also, what besides flowers did mimigas normally eat?

There was one mimiga who would know that, and I figured I would find him at the nearest source of food.

It was time for a chat with old Mahin.


	9. Lunch with Mahin

The building I was looking for was not far away; a large, single story building called the Food Hall. A bit crude of a name, perhaps, but I'm not one to judge.

Sitting on a large rock just outside the building was Mahin, his huge form visible from far away. I walked up to him.

"Sue!" Mahin greeted through a mouthful of sandwich. "How's my old cell mate doing?"

After being kidnapped by the doctor, Mahin and I were stored in the same cell. We hadn't really talked much, mostly since I was too busy pulling at the bars and yelling insults at the weird creatures standing guard.

"I'm just fine, Mahin," I responded. "But I just returned to the village recently, and I haven't had a decent meal yet, so I decided to come check this place out. What do mimigas eat besides flowers, anyway?"

Mahin looked at me quizzically. "What do ya' mean, what do mimigas eat? You're a mimiga aren't ya? What do you eat?"

Mahin didn't know I hadn't always been a mimiga, and it was probably best to keep it that way.

"I mean, what do mimigas eat _around here_? I've been away, I don't know what foods are available."

Mahin chortled. "Well, if you're askin' about food, you've come to the right guy. Follow me inside."

Mahin got to his feet and lumbered into the building. I followed him in.

The inner chamber wasn't exactly set up like a human restaurant. The most noticeable features were the several giant dispensers on one wall, each of them containing a different color of flower. (Excluding red, of course.) Mimigas waited in line to go up to these dispensers and choose the type of flower they wanted to add the their food. They used flowers for seasoning, or for vegetable content, like how humans put lettuce on a hamburger.

"Basically," said Mahin. "Mimigas put flowers on everything. They're what adds the flavor to any food, and they're the staple of the mimiga diet here."

He then pointed to a number of large barrels along the other wall. Inside the barrels were a few types of meat, plenty of fish (many of which may have been caught by Kanpachi), and some simple dairy products.

"Farming and fishing mimigas provide us with the rest," said Mahin. "That's why the Yamashita farm is so important. It's the main source of food for the whole village. All meat, dairy, and most importantly, flowers, arrive here from the farm."

My stomach growled audibly. "Oho!" chuckled the huge mimiga. "You are hungry! Go get something to eat, I'll meet you at the table in the corner."

Mahin went off to fix yet another meal for himself, as I went to try my first mimiga cuisine.

I fixed up a sandwich with a slab of meat from some animal or another, and a slice of fresh, soft cheese. I looked carefully at the flower dispensers, trying to decide which flower to add to my meal.

Flowers came in orange, yellow, blue, purple, and white. I had no idea what any of them tasted like, so I chose blue at random. I pulled the handle on the machine, and a heap of blue petals fell onto my food.

I found Mahin in the corner, eating the first of four sandwiches he had prepared for himself. I sat down at the small table as well.

"Blue flowers." Mahin sputtered between bites. "Good choice."

I was far too hungry to be hesitant; I bit into the sandwich, not knowing what to expect.

The meat was a little tough, and the cheese not particularly flavorful. But that didn't matter once I tasted the flowers. The petals had an amazing flavor; very rich and lush. They had the consistency of a vegetable slice, more or less, but the flavor was far more pleasing than any vegetable I had ever tasted. The taste was so clean, my mouth actually felt freshened after I swallowed the bite, like I had just brushed my teeth.

Mahin must have noticed my reaction. "See, they're good stuff," he grunted. "Blue flowers actually make a refreshing snack by 'emsleves. Sometimes mimigas who are goin' out for a long day's work or a hike or something will pack blue flowers to replenish that fresh, hydrated sort of feeling."

I gobbled down the rest of the sandwich, still amazed at the amount and magnitude of flavor packed into the petals.

I leaned back in my chair, feeling satisfied. Mahin looked less so, despite polishing off four sandwiches in the time it took me to eat one.

"Hey listen, Sue," said Mahin, leaning a little closer. "We're friends, right? Could I trust you to help me with a little somethin'?"

"Depends what it is, I suppose." I answered.

"Well…" Mahin appeared to be searching for a way to explain himself. "You know, this place has a limit on the food. I suppose it's not a real harsh limit, but y'know… some people just wanna eat more than others."

"You mean like you?"

"Well of course like me! I love to eat, y'know."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that much out."

"Anyway," said Mahin. "I was just thinkin' to myself 'wouldn't it be nice if that darn food limit wasn't there?' an' so I went to talk to Jack about it, but of course he said no. He said the farm ain't growing enough to support us all like that."

"What's this got to do with me?" I asked bluntly.

"Well, I got this notion in my head," said Mahin. "That if production increases as the Yamashita farm, there wouldn't be a need to limit the food. Am I right? So I was just thinkin' about figuring out how to increase production at the farm, and I think I might'a found a way, but I'm gonna need an assistant to get the job done."

"And so you're enlisting me."

"Well… yeah," said Mahin. "C'mon, think about it. It ain't just for me, it's for any mimiga who might want a little more to eat. If farm production increases, no need for food limits, right? You wanna help benefit the whole village, dont'cha Sue?"

Mahin looked pretty desperate. I took pity and agreed.

"Aw, that's great!" Mahin bellowed. "It's all gonna work out good, you'll see! I'll come find you in a couple days when I need you."

Mahin jumped up and wandered out of the food hall.

I now had to deal with avoiding my family, befriending Kanpachi, fulfilling Professor Booster's request, and now, helping Mahin with whatever scheme he had cooked up.

For a "simple mimiga life", mine was getting pretty complicated.


	10. Magic of Science and Science of Magic

Six days passed. Gradually, I got used to living in the village. I met several other mimigas, found my way to several more convenient locations in and around the village, and tried several more delicious types of flowers in my meals.

My new life, however, was not normal or relaxed. I narrowly avoided being found by my family on multiple occasions; in fact, I was now living in the command chamber of the old Egg Corridor, since they inhabited Arthur's house.

Mostly, I concerned myself with research and travel to the Sand Zone, because I knew that Professor Booster's offer was short lived. If I didn't get him to Jenka's home by the end of the week, he would tell my mother where I was. Once or twice, as he followed behind my mother, he would pause and sniff the air, and turn to look at the brush I was hidden in, before moving on.

So naturally, I was excited when I finally got a local teleporter linked to the Sand Zone.

Testing it, I found myself in a barren land, surrounded by, (predictably enough), sand. I praised my luck when I saw Jenka's small cottage tucked into the cave wall just up a short, sandy slope. Getting here with Professor Booster would be a breeze, which meant I would no longer be in danger of being given away by him.

The next morning, I hid outside Arthur's House, and when the Professor came outdoors, I confronted him.

"Well, Sue," he said. "Today is the day. Have you found me a way to reach the Sand Zone?"

"I have," I said. "Now, let me make sure this is clear. Once I lead you to this Jenka woman, you will completely drop the idea of telling my mom and Kazuma my whereabouts, right?"

Professor Booster sighed. "I honestly don't know why any of this is going on, Sue," he said. "But that was the deal. I will keep quiet."

"Good," I answered. "Follow me."

The two of us walked briskly to the local teleporter, and with a flip of a switch, we were standing in the sand zone. I led the Professor up the hill, and we stood in front of Jenka's house.

Booster sat down on a flat rock. "Well, go on." He said. "Make sure she's available. If she's ready to see me, come back and let me in."

I nodded, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," called a soft, calm, female voice. "The door isn't locked."

I cautiously entered. Immediately, several dogs scampered over to sniff at me and run around, interested in the visitor. The cottage was small and bland. The only features were a small bed, a bookcase full of ancient, dusty books, and a small wooden desk, at which a bent and wrinkled old woman sat.

"Are you Jenka?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes, dear," she answered. "But my! What is a mimiga like yourself doing out here?"

She stood and hobbled slowly toward me, but stopped when she was a few feet away.

"Ah, but now that I look more closely, I see you are a mimiga, but perhaps not the same as the others. Am I right in assuming that this is not the form in which you were born?"

"That… that's right," I answered. "You can tell?"

"The essence of magic lies upon you. Not particularly pure magic either. I can practically see my daughter's signature written on you."

"Well, yes," I responded. "Misery is the one responsible."

"So you wish for me to reverse the spell?" she asked.

"Woah! No, no no," I responded. "I want to be a mimiga! I came about something totally different."

"Might it have anything to do with the man sitting outside?"

There was no way Jenka could have possibly known Booster was outside. Then again, her magic was so powerful, little things like that seemed completely natural for her.

"Professor!" I called. "Come in!"

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Professor Booster appeared in the doorway.

Jenka scrutinized him for a moment. "Why… aren't you the funny little fellow I rescued from the labyrinth just around a year ago?"

Booster cringed a bit at being called a "funny little fellow", but he began to speak anyway.

"Yes. Jenka, the woman who saved me. I remember you well. In fact, I asked young Sue here to aid me in finding you again."

"Whatever for?" Jenka asked. "You have had your ailments cured, I returned you to safety. What else would you need from me?"

Booster was silent for a long time. "…I wanted to thank you. Sincerely. Perhaps I mumbled a word of gratitude when you tended a wound of mine, or brought me something to eat, but I was sent back to the mimiga village before my condition was fully well again, and I realized, I never had a chance to truly thank you, in a way to show my profound gratitude for your aid in a time most dire, rather than just the pleasantries and polite thanks I gave while here before."

Jenka stared at Booster, her small eyes peering through her enormous spectacles, and into his red goggles. "Not in a long time have I seen a person on this island with such a graceful tongue and thankful heart. 'Thank you' is a magical phrase, Professor."

"I wouldn't put it that way," said Booster. "I was just trying to give a just response to the care I received. I don't know if I'd say it was 'magical'.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because, as a man of science, I know of course that there is no such thing as magic."

I nearly laughed out loud watching this. Did Professor Booster have any idea who he was talking to? I honestly didn't care how scientific he was; there was no way he could say Jenka possessed no magical abilities.

Jenka looked both annoyed and amused. "No such thing as magic? Professor, magic is all around us. Magic weaves its way into the lives of the greatest and least of us all."

If this was an animated movie, Jenka surely would have broken into song after a corny line like that. Professor Booster however, being old, didn't quite have the same sense of corny as today's generation, and he responded with a corny phrase of his own.

You're right, my dear woman. There is one sort of magic, I suppose. It is the magic of science! The world is a complex place. Explaining the methodology, finding the truths, the unbreakable laws in the world around you, that's the real magic of our planet."

I didn't understand why Jenka didn't simply use her power to prove the Professor wrong. She seemed to have a more tactful way of doing it.

"Then Professor… Booster, was it? Explain some of the island's phenomena. Like why this girl is a mimiga now. That was brought about by a spell, was it not?"

"Not truly a spell," said Booster. "I believe it is simply a complex technology, calibrated to emit specific radiation that breaks and rearranges the DNA to produce a mimiga form without harming the body. Fascinating, but not impossible. Momorin Sakamoto found a way to reverse the effect."

I knew inside that the Professor was wrong, but it would be no use explaining that to him.

Jenka just smiled. "There are much harder examples to explain, but I'll leave you to think what you want for the moment. But consider this; perhaps not only is there a magic to science; perhaps there is actually a science of magic as well. Think of it that way, classifying magic into another category of your fabulous scientific web. Consider things science can't explain, things like gratitude, like that you found you needed to show me before you could be pleased inside. There is magic to gratitude, and for that matter there is magic to the soul. There is magic in love, magic in the very force of life! Perhaps the only reason you don't believe is that this 'hidden science' is too complicated for you. Is that it, Professor Booster?"

That did it. I figured Professor Booster and Jenka were about to enter an argument that would span years.

"Really?" asked the professor. "You imply that this 'science' is too much for me? We need to meet often and talk about this. I must be going now, before my associates miss me, but I shall visit again promptly. The science of magic… or magic of science… or perhaps, they're one in the same? No, no. I shall bring more input for this topic in a day or two."

Professor Booster said a respectful farewell, and Jenka responded similarly, a pleased smile on her face. He marched out the door, and I waved goodbye to Jenka before following.

We walked back toward the teleporter. "Pulsing Protons, that woman is infuriating." The Professor fumed, turning to his unusual habit of using scientific alliteration to express his anger. Then all of a sudden, he said something I hadn't expected.

"I've never had such a wonderful conversation in all my life."

Professor Booster once again let me know that I was in no danger of being given away by him, and we stepped through the teleporter together.

I think something changed in Booster's worldview that day. Perhaps a little something had changed in mine as well.


	11. On the Dock

It was two days later. My family had gone off to a remote part of the island to search for me, so I was able to venture around outside less cautiously for a short while. Last time I'd talked to Kanpachi, he'd asked me to go fishing with him when I had the chance, so today I walked to the reservoir to do so.

Kanpachi saw me coming, and immediately began digging in his bag for the spare fishing rod he had promised to bring.

"Hi Kanpachi," I said, sitting down next to him. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," the mimiga responded with a warm smile. "Are you ready to fish?"

"Of course! Do you have a rod for me?"

Kanpachi picked up the spare rod, baited it, and handed it to me. I cast the line out at an angle, the bobber landing in a different part of the lake than Kanpachi's.

"So…" I said, striking up a conversation. "Have you caught that chinfish yet?"

Kanpachi chuckled. "Nope, but he's not going to get away from me forever. He's still swimming out there. A couple days ago, I think I got him on my line, but he got away before I could reel him in."

The two of us gazed out at the water. It was perfectly still as far as we could see; there was no sign of the chinfish, or any fish for that matter. This didn't seem to deter Kanpachi, however. He simply sat and continued to wait.

We struck up a conversation on some random topics to pass the time. Kanpachi let me know about several interesting events that had occurred in the village during the year I was at home. He told me a very funny story about the ceremony to induct Jack as the new number-one.

Shortly after I left and the crisis ended, Jack had to become the new leader, since King had fallen at the hands of Misery. During the ceremony, everyone, including Jack, respectfully removed any hats or headgear, and then Jack, being almost completely unable to see without his goggles, had tripped and fallen down the steps of the platform. The crowd roared with laughter.

I laughed at Kanpachi's stories and listened to his discussion of Island events. He really was very charming and fun to talk to once you got him to open up.

"Hey," he said, after a while, as he finished reeling in a third fish (I still hadn't gotten a nibble). "That's enough about me. What have you been up to lately?"

At this moment, a scary thought occurred to me. Kanpachi didn't know that I haven't always been a mimiga. If I discussed history, I'd have to be very selective; I didn't know how Kanpachi would react or if his feelings would change if he knew I was once human.

Luckily, a serendipitous event diverted the need to discuss the topic. There was a tug on my line.

"Kanpachi!" I gasped. "I think I've got a fish!"

Kanpachi watched the line, giving me advice.

"Ok, now reel it slowly…"

"Give it some slack or the line will break!"

"Don't let him tangle it around the dock. Move over if you have to."

I followed all of Kanpachi's instructions, and finally, after several minutes, I had reeled in the whole line, and found a large grey fish dangling on the end.

"Nice catch!" complimented my partner, scooping the flailing fish into a net and placing it in my bucket. "You can make yourself a fine dinner with that later."

He was about to say something else, when suddenly, something caught on his line as well! He only had to struggle with it for a few seconds to realize what was on the other end.

"Sue! It's the chinfish!"

In the distance, I saw a large splash, as the large orange fish leapt up, holding the end of Kanpachi's line.

Kanpachi was on his feet, constantly re-angling his rod to get the best position to deal with the incredible pressure the fish was putting on the line. He reeled occasionally, then adjusted himself and waited for the submerged fish to move into position before slowly reeling again.

Several minutes passed in this fashion, and slowly, the big orange shape moved closer to the dock. Finally, it was only a few feet away.

"I've got you now!" said Kanpachi. He pulled the rod back, ready to force the fish out of the water. Everything looked perfect…

…And then the chinfish gave a mighty pull, and, losing his balance, Kanpachi cried out as he tumbled off the dock and into the water.

The orange shape beneath the water immediately vanished in the deeper parts of the lake.

"Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly as the soaked mimiga pulled himself back up onto the dock.

"I'm just fine," he said, wringing the water from his navy blue shirt. "I should have been more careful though! That one misstep at the last second cost me my chance at the chinfish!"

He stood there, sopping wet, looking out at the lake. "I'm not giving up," he said, not facing me. "I can catch that chinfish. I just need to keep trying."

He turned to me. "This has been quite a day," he said. "I had a lot of fun talking to you again."

"Me too," I responded.

"So, um…" Kanpachi was blushing a little again. "Sue, I was wondering if you wanted to… um…"

"Hold that thought, Kanpachi," I said. My huge mimiga ears had detected something.

Voices. Familiar voices. Coming to the reservoir.

My family.

"Uh-oh!" I said aloud. "I've got to hide!"

"What's going on?" asked Kanpachi.

"No time to explain!" I said. "Some humans are coming! If they ask you about me, tell them you haven't seen me. Ok?"

"But who are these…"

"Ok Kanpachi!"

He was startled. "O…Ok…"

I jumped into the lake and swam under the dock. There was enough space between the dock and the water's surface for me to keep my head out of the water.

Moments later, I heard the clicking of shoes on the dock.

"Hello there," came a male voice. It was Kazuma. "We're looking for someone named Sue. Have you seen her anywhere?"

I waited. Kanpachi mumbled something.

"What was that? I couldn't hear," said Kazuma.

"No sir. No Sue around here."

I heard my mother sigh when he said this. "Thanks anyway," said Kazuma. "Let's go mom."

The two of them, (and likely Professor Booster as well) walked away.

I scrambled out of the water. "Who were those people?" asked Kanpachi. "They look like researchers. They didn't work for the doctor, did they?"

"No," I responded, shaking the water out of the fur on my ears. "I'm sorry Kanpachi, I have to leave now. I didn't realize they would…"

I cut my own sentence off there. "See you later," I said, before darting off down the tunnel to the village.

Kanpachi stared after me. I think he had wanted to tell me something, but it would have to wait. I needed to get back to safety for the time being.

Hopefully, my mother and the others would give up soon. They were really beginning to cut into my life. Yet I feared it would still be some time until they left me alone. I ran back to the Egg Corridor until I knew where they would go next.


	12. Operation Fertile Farm

My mother was sitting inside the house, trying to keep her composure, but it was obvious she was sobbing quietly.

Kazuma, not sure how to handle the situation, seeing his strong mother having this sort of breakdown with no one around to comfort her but him, offered her relatively meaningless statements like, "We'll find her. We haven't checked everywhere yet." And "Sue's a tough girl. I'm sure she's just fine!"

I crouched beneath the window, and it was difficult for me not to begin crying myself.

It had been two days since my close encounter at the reservoir. I had noticed that my family was becoming increasingly worried, and I occasionally checked to see how they were faring. After all, they were my family, and I still loved them. I wanted to jump up, to leap through the window, to let my mother know that I was okay.

Of course, if I did that, I'd be captured, shipped home, and restored to my human form before I could get a single word in edgewise.

Professor Booster was, once again, not around. He was likely off in the Sand Zone again, spending time with Jenka. The two of them had become fast friends, interestingly enough.

I'd had enough for now. I snuck away, and went to the food hall. I hadn't eaten a thing all day. But the thought of my despairing family weighed heavily in my stomach, and I couldn't even finish my sandwich.

I was staring off into space, deep in thought, when someone said my name. Turning, I discovered Mahin had plopped his enormous bulk down at my table, munching away as usual.

"Uh… Hi Mahin," I said finally. "What's going on?"

"I just wanted to talk to you quick," Mahin answered through a mouthful of food. "Remember that little project you agreed to help me with?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, it's ready. Meet me tonight around 11 on the road to the farm and we'll take care of things."

I hadn't expected Mahin's plan to be ready quite so quickly. It was true that I had promised to help him however, so I agreed. Mahin nodded before leaving.

The way Mahin was planning this seemed a little suspicious. There was so much secrecy, and lots of wordplay; Mahin seemed to be trying to word a less than wholesome idea in a manner that sounded nicer. But the mimiga did like food, so I didn't think he planned to do anything malicious. Perhaps he simply didn't want to be caught doing something unauthorized.

I supposed I would find out tonight at eleven.

The rest of the day passed without any event of interest. Soon it was late in the evening, so I set out for the Yamashita farm. Mahin was waiting next to the road, and setting next to him were two enormous cylindrical tanks, with straps connected so they could be worn like backpacks. Each had a large, handmade sticker on the side, which read "Operation Fertile Farm."

"Good, you're here," said Mahin. "Here, have a tank."

He lifted one of the tanks of the ground and strapped it onto me. I hadn't anticipated its heaviness, and I cried out as I fell over backward. After flailing like an overturned turtle for a few seconds I managed to struggle to my feet.

"Mahin, what on Earth is in here anyway?"

"It's a chemical that promotes plant growth that I… managed to procure," the overweight mimiga responded.

"What kind of chemical?" I asked, becoming increasingly suspicious.

"I'm not exactly sure," Mahin admitted. "But I've seen it work before. Just trust me, the flowers on the farm will grow like mad once they get a taste of this."

The two of us walked down the rest of the dark path and reached the Yamashita farm. The farmer, Sandaime, had gone home for the evening, meaning we could carry out Mahin's plan without detection.

Mahin pressed a button on his tank, and a hose extended, which he grabbed. I did the same. It looked like a simple device; you simply pushed the handle forward to make the spray shoot out.

"One good coating to all the flowers should do it." Said Mahin. "I'll take the eastern half, and you take the west. We should be finished in about an hour that way." He gave me a grin and a thumbs-up. "Let Operation Fertile Farm begin!"

Slowly, I walked up and down the rows of brightly colored flowers, bathing them all with the mist pouring from the tank on my back. The stuff smelled a little funny, and was sort of brownish-grey in color. It didn't look particularly wholesome, and after a few minutes I considered stopping. But Mahin did say he had seen this stuff work well on other plants. I decided to trust him, but was a little annoyed at myself for being so trusting of everyone in that way.

I could see Mahin in the distance, trudging along and coating all the flowers with the contents of his tank as well. He was right about one thing; if this worked, food shortage would not be an issue in the mimiga village for a long time. There was plenty growing at the farm.

Shortly after midnight, Mahin and I each finished our half of the farm. The tank on my back, most of its chemical expelled, was considerably lighter than when it had started.

"Good job!" said Mahin. "Wait till they see how great this place'll grow! They'll have more flowers than they know what to do with!"

We both walked back to the village, Mahin humming quietly. He took the tanks, and we both headed to our homes.

A few days passed afterwards. Occasionally, I saw Mahin at the food hall. He would always wink mischievously at me. But nothing seemed to happen to the food as far as increasing.

Then one day, I walked into the food hall to find a great deal of agitated mimigas. The giant containers holding the flowers were running dangerously low, and Mahin was standing in a corner, pretending to look nonchalant but actually looking quite guilty. There was only one possible explanation for the situation.

Food Shortage.

I cursed under my breath; something in the back of my mind had been telling me not to trust Mahin, but I ignored it and now I was a major part of this mess. I immediately dashed out of the building and toward the meeting hall. Jack would know the details of what was happening.

The question was, would there be enough food to support the village now?


	13. A Lot of Shady Business

I entered the meeting hall, but found myself stuck behind a large group of very agitated mimigas, all yelling questions at poor Jack at the same time.

"When will the farm be growing fully again?"

"Do you know what actually caused the blight?"

"Are we going to run out of food?"

From behind the cluster of mimigas, I finally heard Jack yell, "Quiet everyone! Quiet NOW!"

The group finally fell silent. "Ok," Jack's voice continued. "Look, clearly something bad has happened to the flowers at the Yamashita farm. The situation is still being assessed and further information about the state of the crops will be distributed soon. In the meantime, the village is being placed on Orange Alert level food rationing, which is subject to change at an time."

The mimigas, mumbling amongst themselves, filed out of the room, leaving a thoroughly worn and baffled looking Jack leaning on his desk.

"Oh, Hi Sue," he said. "As you've probably noticed, things aren't going too well."

"That's what I came to talk to you about." I responded. "Jack, I… I know what happened to the farm."

Jack looked at me curiously. "You do? How? What? Why?"

"I'll explain," I said. "Since, well, it's partially my fault."

"You?" the mimiga asked incredulously. "You caused the blight on the flowers?"

"Well, sort of, I think. I'm willing to come clean with all the details, but you're going to have to bring Mahin here. He's technically behind the whole thing."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Mahin is up to no good? Why am I not surprised?"

Jack immediately called in two mimiga assistants, who were immediately sent to seek out Mahin.

"Now," said Jack, leaning forward. "What did you do? How did you end up destroying over 95% of the farm's flower crop?"

I explained, completely honestly and in great detail, the events of a few nights before. After all, I felt terrible about the whole situation, so I was willing to give the information and, if necessary, take the punishment, if it could help the village.

"So you and Mahin sprayed the crops with some sort of chemical?" Jack asked. "What was this chemical?"

"Only Mahin knows that. I was just helping him, since he claimed the crops would grow."

"Ow! Leggo!" came a voice from outside. Mahin was shoved into the room, and held there by the two assistants, who struggled to keep him still, since he weighed nearly as much as the two of them combined.

"I said let me go! I didn't do nothing!"

"Mahin!" yelled Jack sharply. Mahin shut up and turned to look at Jack.

"Look, Jack, what do you got on me? I didn't do anything!"

Jack pointed to me. Mahin saw me and threw me a glare.

"She's already come clean Mahin. Don't try to deny it."

Mahin's face fell. "Alright, yeah, I sprayed the crops. But it was supposed to make 'em grow bigger, not die!"

"Mahin," asked Jack. "What was in the spray you spread on the crops?"

Mahin mumbled something inaudible. Jack impatiently commanded he speak up.

"It… it was runoff from the Labyrinth."

There was silence for a few moments. "Mahin," said Jack, barely concealing rage at the large mimiga's stupidity. "_Why on Earth _would you think toxic runoff from the island's trash dump would _possibly _have a positive effect on the plants at the farm?"

"It works on the plants there!" said Mahin defensively. "The plants by that trickle from the labyrinth grow huge!"

"Those are weeds!" screamed Jack. "Mahin, you idiot, weeds thrive in bad conditions! Of course weeds will grow well, but when you dump that toxic junk on delicate plants that need fresh soil and clean water, like the flowers, they're gonna die! And even if they did live, that means the village would be ingesting the chemicals from the labyrinth, which would lead to health problems for us instead!"

Mahin finally seemed to be grasping what he had done wrong. He hung his head.

"…Well, sorry Jack…"

"Sorry?" Jack asked. "You killed the entire monthly crop and you're _sorry?_ Mahin, we have a little food stored away in case of a bad month, but not enough to support us when the whole entire crop fails! I'll have to put the village on Red Alert Level rationing immediately, and even then, there's not enough. There's going to be deaths; starvation of mimigas."

Mahin looked horrified. "I… I didn't mean no harm. I just wanted more food…"

"As if you needed any more food!" said Jack. "Look what your greed has brought us."

Jack turned to the other mimigas. "Take him to the cage. He can spend a few weeks in there to think about this."

"What about the girl?" one of the others asked. "She's an accomplice."

"Later," he said. "I want to talk to Sue. Alone."

The others obeyed, dragging Mahin from the room.

Jack sighed, looking at me with a sad expression. "I bet you're not too happy that you got pulled into all this."

"Jack," I asked. "Isn't there any backup? Certainly there must be a store of food in case of a catastrophe like this?"

"There was," Jack said. "But only one mimiga knew where it is. King."

King, the previous leader of the mimigas, died valiantly trying to protect Toroko from the doctor. There was no way to ask him where the secret storage was now, as his skeleton lay resting beneath the dunes of the Sand Zone.

"The village will overcome this, but it will not be pretty," said Jack. "Without that hidden store, there simply isn't enough to support the whole population. The weak, the sick, the elderly, they will probably all die. It will take a month to get a usable crop growing at the farm again."

"There must be something we can do," I said, but Jack shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Sue. We can't."

The assistants returned, and, although clearly not wanting to, Jack commanded them to take me to the cage as well. I didn't struggle; I went quietly. I deserved it.

Jack had the courtesy to bring me a new outfit, a red shirt with a brown vest, a pair of fake glasses, a hat, and some sort of white pasty substance to cover up my telltale scar, all of which was so my family wouldn't recognize me while I was imprisoned. I probably looked quite stupid, but I didn't care.

Mahin didn't speak. He just sat in the corner, staring out into the village.

I was lost in thought. I needed to find a way, some way, to find the location of that secret stash of flowers. But only King knew where it was…

I suddenly remembered something. When Quote had fought here, he had used a blade that, when full of the courage of the wielder, allowed King's spirit to appear briefly, to aid in avenging himself and Toroko by destroying all in his way. If I could find that blade, and somehow call forth King's spirit…

But Quote had traded it fair and square to the tiny man, Mr. Little, who lived in the Outer Wall of the island. Without the gun that Quote had, I could not trade to get it back.

I was mumbling to myself aloud, thinking of ways to get that blade back. Someone heard me.

"Excuse me, miss," came a soft, high male voice behind me. "I couldn't help but notice you seem to be trying to retrieve a certain item. Maybe I could help you with that?"

I turned around. A shifty looking mimiga in mirrored shades and an overcoat stood there. I had seen him while the doctor held me at the plantation; he was in charge of shipping new sprinklers out to the farmers.

"My name's Megane," he said. "I think, given your situation, you might have need of my services?"

"What services?" I asked.

"Well…" Megane leaned back a little and placed his hands in two of his many pockets. "Maybe I can get back that blade you want so much, If you'll do a little somethin' for me later…"

"What kind of something?"

"You use the tech stuff in this village, right? Give me all the passcodes to the teleporter, and I'll see what I can do about getting you back that sword."

Megane was clearly a shifty character. He didn't try to hide it; he dealt with some shady business. But with the fate of the mimiga village at stake, and that blade being my only chance at saving it, I had to agree.

I scrawled the teleporter codes on a piece of paper, and handed it through the cage bars to Megane. He pocketed the sheet quickly.

"Thanks," he said. "Now, I'll head for the outer wall and see if I can't… _convince _Mr. Little to give me that blade.

Megane chuckled ominously as he walked off. I stared after him from inside the cage.

I really hoped that this time, I had made the right decision.


	14. Help from an old Hero

I sat in the cage for what seemed like an eternity.

Mahin clearly had no intention of speaking to me; I think he was mad that I admitted what happened. He was a bit too dense to see how necessary confessing was.

I could do nothing but wait. Eventually, Megane would return, hopefully reporting success. I hoped he didn't do anything too terrible to Mr. Little, but I didn't know enough about the shady mimiga to speculate on his methods.

So I sat there. I sat for a long, long time.

Other mimigas, passing in the village, would glance over at Mahin and I before turning away and hurrying on. We were convicts on display, a sort of punishment by public humiliation. I didn't really mind the stares though; I was in here because I had done something bad, so I lived with the punishment. I did, however, get a bit more perturbed when I saw three figures walking in my direction.

Mom, Kazuma, and Professor Booster.

The three of them stopped a few yards from the cage. "Now look at that," said Mom. "That barbaric sort of punishment is one thing I never liked about the mimigas."

"But Mrs. Sakamoto," said Booster. "Haven't you heard what has happened? The village is abuzz with news on a crisis; these mimigas seem to have accidentally destroyed the food supply crop at the nearby farm."

"Yeah," said Kazuma. "They're talking about it everywhere. The poor mimigas are all on food rations because of these two." Kazuma stepped forward and bent down to peer into the cage. I prayed he wouldn't recognize me.

Kazuma looked straight at me. "My, you look familiar," he said. "Those eyes… they make you look…" he thought about it carefully. "Yes! You look kind of like Sue when she was a mimiga!"

I gulped. If Kazuma made the connection, I was doomed.

"I don't know any Sue," I said, disguising my voice as much as possible. "I'm Sam. Sam as in Samantha."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mahin shoot me a weird look, but thankfully he didn't comment.

"She does look a little like mimiga Sue," mom commented. "But she can't be; Sue's a human again anyway. Besides, Sue has a scar on her face."

I silently thanked Jack for that disguising skin cream.

Mom and Kazuma began to walk away. Professor Booster sniffed the air, peered at me curiously, and then turned and walked away.

Good Lord, that man was creepy sometimes.

In any case, my disguise had worked on those it needed to work on. I would be in the clear for now. I'd been sitting in here for hours now, so finally, I lied myself down and went to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept on the grass. It might have been only 10 minutes, or it could have been half a day. All I know was that I was awakened suddenly by a shimmering metal blade plunging into the ground about a half an inch from my face.

I sprang to my feet and turned to face Megane, smiling smugly from outside the cage. "I got your sword." He said curtly.

"You nearly impaled me with it!" I said in annoyance.

Megane just chuckled. "It wasn't particularly hard to get, really. You see, I found myself in the convenient situation of being there while Mrs. Little and her daughter were dangling, clinging to the edge of the outer wall to avoid falling miles to their doom. Naturally, when Mr. Little saw a big, strong mimiga like myself, he offered to do just about anything in exchange for my rescuing them. He was only too happy to hand over the blade after that.

A wicked smile appeared on Megane's face. "Of course, I weakened the platform that collapsed under Mrs. Little and her daughter in the first place, but hey, that's what they call business strategy.

Megane snickered at his mischief. Like I had thought, his methods had not been totally wholesome, but at least he hadn't ultimately hurt anyone.

"Alright, thanks," I said, pulling the blade out of the ground. "We're even. Go away."

Megane left without a word.

I looked at the blade carefully. It appeared to be just a regular sword, a nice one perhaps, but it didn't appear magical. I knew however, that King's spirit was sealed inside, waiting for his earthly mission to be complete.

Conveniently, Jack was walking by at that time. I called him over.

"Jack!" I said. "You've got to let me out of here!"

"No Sue. You'll serve the full punishment. I'm not letting you out early just because we're friends."

"You don't understand! I think I can find that secret store of flowers!"

This news caught Jack's interest. I showed him the blade. "This blade was once held by King, the previous leader of the mimigas."

"I know that!" said Jack. "I was King's right hand man! I'd recognize that blade anywhere! The question is, how did you get it?"

"That's not important," I said. "I think I can use it to speak with King's spirit, but only if it is used courageously! You have to let me out so I can try to awaken his might, and perhaps find from him where the flowers are hidden!"

Jack hesitated, and then opened the cage, allowing me out. Mahin suddenly leapt to his feet and barreled toward the gate, but Jack slammed in shut before he could launch himself through the opening. Mahin groaned in contempt.

"Go to the graveyard," said Jack. "I'll be supervising you. If this works, your punishment will no longer apply, since this is less your fault than it is Mahin's."

The two of us headed to the mimiga graveyard, where mushroom creatures wandered about.

"Well," said Jack. "Start fighting them. If the sword builds up power for King's spirit through battle, you're gonna have to attack."

About then it occurred to me that I had little experience with combat of any kind. I had never wielded a sword before. But at the moment, too much was counting on me. I had to try.

I ran forward, swinging the blade madly. A small mushroom creature only had a chance to look up at me briefly before I cleaved it in two. Another stood nearby on a ledge, and I swung the sword up, lobbing of his top half.

This was easier than I thought. I dashed around the graveyard, laying waste to all the mushrooms, including a particularly large one which I hacked into several pieces.

I stood there, panting, everything in the graveyard defeated. But still the sword showed no sign of special power.

Suddenly, Jack cried, "Sue! Look out behind you!"

I leapt forward, and only just in time. A strange, bear-like creature had emerged from the shadows. Had I moved a split second later, the large knife he swung would have sliced open my neck.

I whirled around to face the monster, jumped nimbly over another of his deadly swings, and plunged the blade into its chest. The creature roared in pain before collapsing on the ground, the life leaving its body.

I ripped the blade out of the carcass. "That was too close," I said. "He came out of nowhere."

"Um, Sue?" Jack said hesitantly. "The blade…"

I looked. The blade was now glowing. Did this mean I could call forth King's spirit?

Before I could find out, three more knife-wielding creatures emerged from the shadows. I swung the sword, and there was a bright flash. A white figure burst forth, rocketed to the end of the graveyard, and cleaved the three monsters in half before shooting back and finally coming to a halt a few feet in front of Jack and me.

The spirit was translucent, and its colors faded, but there was no question that the one standing before us was King.

"King!" I said. "We did it! We contacted you! And we need your help!"

King scrutinized me, and then spoke in an echoing, disembodied voice.

"Sue? The mimiga from outside the village? You hold the blade now?"

"Temporarily," I said. "Let me explain."

I told King everything that had happened after his death, and how the doctor had been soundly defeated.

"I see," said King. "This is good. I have been avenged. All the mimigas have. But obviously, I am still here, so my help is still needed."

"Well," said Jack, stepping in. "Sir, a blight has befallen the flowers in the village. We must know the location of the secret storage of them, hidden in case of such an emergency."

"The hidden storage," said King. "I knew I should tell someone. I didn't expect to pass away so suddenly. The secret store can be found in this very graveyard. Push aside the headstone of the hero Arthur, and you will find a stairway leading to his tomb as well as the chamber where an enormous stash of dried flowers can be found."

"There?" asked Jack. "That's excellent! It's nearby, it will not be hard to transport them to the village at all!"

"Yes," said King. "With that store, you shall survive the blight."

King turned to me. "I admire your courage. It took great strength on your part to awaken my spirit again, Sue. Perhaps, while alive, I misjudged you. You are as worthy an honorable a mimiga as any other."

A veil of light began to form around King. "At last," he breathed. "My work is done. I can move on to enjoy the peace of the afterlife, together with dear, innocent Toroko."

For the first in my memory, King actually smiled, and then slowly he disappeared.

The warrior's work was finished. The village would be saved.


	15. Of Fish and Mimigas

Two days after the event with King, things were returning to normal in the mimiga village. I decided to head for the reservoir, once again to fish with Kanpachi. I had to admit, I was having a lot of fun spending time with him. Which meant it was time to consider an important question…

I knew he liked me; but how did I feel about him?

I liked Kanpachi, at least as a friend, but I would have to reflect for a while to decide if I was feeling any more than that.

I turned a corner and almost bumped into Mahin. His punishment now fully served, Mahin was free again, but I assumed he wouldn't be showing any good will to me for a while.

Interestingly, Mahin seemed to be in good spirits. He even said hello as I passed.

"Wow, Mahin, you're looking well today," I commented.

"I am," he responded. "Want to know why?"

"Uh… ok…" I answered.

"Well I ain't telling!" he responded with a laugh. "It's a surprise. You'll find out soon enough."

He walked away chuckling. I hoped he hadn't gotten himself into more trouble. Either way, I wasn't involved this time anyway.

Soon I arrived at the reservoir, and found Kanpachi, as usual, sitting at the edge of the dock. He waved in greeting as I approached.

"Hi!" Kanpachi greeted warmly, holding up the spare fishing rod. "I haven't seen you in a couple of days. How are you?"

"I'm fine," I answered. "I got involved in a bit of… shady business in the village, but that's all cleared up now."

"That's good," said Kanpachi. "Let's get to fishing, shall we?"

I sat down, picked up the rod, and began to fish alongside my friend. We talked for a long while about trivial things going on around the village, while Kanpachi continued to reel in fish after fish without really paying attention. I admired his skills; years of dedicated practice had made him a truly expert angler.

"Hey, Sue," Kanpachi said finally. "I wanted to ask you about something. I actually wanted to ask you last time, but then those humans came and…"

Whatever Kanpachi was about to say was interrupted by a sudden, strong tug on his fishing line. In most cases, a fish wasn't enough to make him have to stop in the middle of a sentence, so I immediately suspected something extraordinary when he suddenly turned his attention from me to the water.

"Is it him?" I asked tentatively.

"I don't know," said Kanpachi, watching the line carefully. It slowly moved out deeper into the lake, and for a few moments remained almost still.

There was a great splash, and the orange form of the chinfish was once again visible.

"That's him!" Kanpachi announced, although his aquatic adversary needed no introduction. "You made a fool out of me last time, buddy! I'm not letting you get away with it!"

He planted his feet firmly, adjusted his stance so he was as stable as possible, and slowly began to reel in the chinfish. I watched, amazed, as their battle went on for a long time. Now and again, Kanpachi would risk a strong pull on the rod, which would often pay off, tugging the chinfish closer. Other times, however, his footing would slip a bit or he'd angle the rod wrong, and the chinfish would get a few feet of space back.

The confrontation was drawn out for several minutes, but one thing was becoming clear. Despite valiant efforts by both, Kanpachi was winning.

Soon, the moment of truth approached. The fish was only a few yards from the dock. Last time, Kanpachi had lost his balance in the struggle that occurred here, and the chinfish had sent him tumbling into the water. Kanpachi stepped back whenever he could to try to prevent this from happening again, but as the chinfish neared, its strength became harder to deal with.

"Come on, you…" Kanpachi mumbled as he struggled. "You've gotten away from me so many times. You're not going to get away again…"

The chinfish responded with a sudden violent tug, and Kanpachi stumbled forward, teetering on the edge of the dock.

It was like history was repeating itself. I saw Kanpachi, trapped in the same situation, his firm footing suddenly lost and his distance from the water gone. For a split second, he was completely vulnerable, at the mercy of the chinfish. And we both knew that split second was enough for him.

I acted unconsciously. Suddenly, I was behind Kanpachi, grabbing him around the chest, leaning with all my weight, as the panicked mimiga hung slightly off the edge of the dock. The whole incident only took a second or two. I wasn't really aware what was going on, only that soon, the both of us were falling backwards onto the dock. I hit the boards, and Kanpachi landed on top of me. (Which wasn't really a problem, he was a little smaller and thinner than me.)

We both scrambled up to see what had happened, and the answer was immediately obvious.

The chinfish must have suddenly relented for a moment, probably not expecting the increase in strength, and the force I was using to support Kanpachi pulled the both of us backwards, as well as pulling up the remained of the line, and the catch on the end.

There was the chinfish, flopping helplessly on the dock. After a few moments, its movements died down, and Kanpachi was able to drag its enormous bulk into a nearby crate he had prepared.

Then the two of us looked at each other, and did the only thing that seemed to make sense. We laughed.

The two of us laughed ourselves almost into tears, both amazed and relieved that Kanpachi's goal had finally been achieved. After ages upon ages of fishing, Kanpachi had finally snagged the ultimate prize. He had caught the chinfish.

"You did it!" I cried, still trying to get over the random burst of relieved laughter. "You finally caught him."

"We caught him, you mean," said Kanpachi, still chuckling a little himself. "I couldn't have done it without you."

And then we were hugging. I don't remember which of us hugged the other; all I know is that suddenly, the two of us embraced each other strongly, both because of the capture of the chinfish, and something more…

When we separated, Kanpachi was blushing madly again, but he was smiling. "Sue," he said. "Let me get around to what I was trying to say now. I've been meaning to tell you something…"

I knew just what was coming, but I let Kanpachi say it for himself.

"I… just wanted you to know… that I… really like you Sue. I've liked you for a long time, but I never really thought I could tell you, didn't think you'd understand... but I guess now's the time to tell the truth."

He was finally looking me straight in the eyes, something he often had trouble doing. "Sue… I wondered if… you'd want to go out on a date with me?"

I hadn't expected this question, but after the events of the last few minutes, there could be only one answer.

"Of course, Kanpachi."

Kanpachi looked even more relieved than when he had caught the chinfish. "Great," he said. "I'll meet you in front of the meeting house tomorrow evening. We'll… get some dinner or something."

"Perfect," I answered. "I'll see you tomorrow. Now go celebrate, and cook up that chinfish."

He smiled hugely. "I will. See you Sue."

"See you."

I walked back to the mimiga village, humming to myself. Everything had gone well today. Kanpachi had caught the chinfish, finally worked up the nerve to confess his feelings for me, and now we'd go on a true date tomorrow. I resolved to thank Chaco again for the advice she had given me; it had turned the Kanpachi situation into the beginning of what could become a beautiful relationship.

My happy daydreams were suddenly shattered when a large cage dropped from the cave ceiling, trapping me.

"Got her!" came what was clearly Kazuma's voice, hidden behind a large rock nearby. "Mom! We got her! We got Sue!"

All the joys of the day were suddenly washed away in the face of this sudden horror. I was captured, at last, by my family.


	16. Caught Between Worlds

A truck pulled around the corner. It had been parked just out of view, waiting for this trap to be sprung. I suspected mom was driving, since Kazuma and Professor Booster appeared from behind the rock.

If this was the professor's doing, I would rip him apart at the first chance I got. He had promised me he wouldn't help them. But I noticed him glance at me sadly as he and Kazuma climbed into the truck. He looked as if it wasn't his fault after all.

The back of the truck opened, and a crane-like device hoisted the cage I was in, placing me in the cargo space. The back doors slammed shut, and the cage lifted away, leaving me free to move about in the back of the truck.

I heard voices, which surprised me, since there was a pretty thick sheet of metal between myself and the three people in the front seat. I shouldn't be able to hear them at all, yet there voices were loud and clear. It suddenly occurred to me that my hearing was simply hundreds of times better than it had been as a human, thanks to my gigantic mimiga ears. Only tiny amounts of sound managed to travel through three inches of metal, but I heard every word.

"Alright mom, you can relax. We found her now. As soon as we get back to Arthur's House we'll get this whole mess sorted out."

Kazuma sounded like he was trying to comfort mom again, who was probably overcome with emotion at finally finding her daughter.

"I know," mom sniffed. "I'm just glad this chase is finally over. I'll have to thank that fat mimiga again for the information. I hadn't considered that Sue might be a mimiga. And the fact that he knew where she was at the time… he was just so helpful and considerate!"

I cursed loudly. Mahin had told me he had a surprise for me. It looks like that surprise was betrayal to my family. I immediately made a mental note to get revenge on Mahin if I ever saw that good-for-nothing sack of lard again.

Now I heard Professor Booster's voice. I listened closely.

"Mrs. Sakamoto, if you don't mind me asking, what is it you intend to do now that you've finally located your missing daughter?"

"Obviously, we're going to have a discussion immediately upon arriving back at Arthur's House." Mom answered. "And if we're lucky, we'll be on the copter heading home tonight! I'll have no more of this place, not after a shenanigan like this one!"

I felt sick to my stomach; mom was planning to remove me from the island immediately, take me to a home I could no longer live in, change me to the human form that was no longer me, and probably keep me locked under stupefying security for years, in fear of my escape again. I couldn't even imagine living like that, but now it seemed it was inevitable.

I heard someone whisper my name. I thought I was imagining it, but I soon heard it again. It sounded like Professor Booster.

"Sue," the voice said. "Stomp three times if you can hear me."

My mom and brother couldn't hear Professor Booster from the front seat, but I could hear him through solid metal. Amazing.

I stomped the floor, causing three loud, metallic bangs.

"Good," Professor Booster's voice continued. "Now listen to me. This truck is made of strong metal, but the latch holding the cargo doors shut is rusted quite a bit. If you focus your strength, you may be able to use those muscular legs to break the latch and kick them open."

"Why are you helping me?" I whispered back. There was no response, and I soon remembered that, with Professor Booster's human ears, I could yell as loudly as possible and he would only hear a muffled sound.

I struggled for a few moments, trying to get in a good position to attack the doors. I had to kick with both legs at once if I wanted to stand a chance of opening them, and I'd only get a kick or two before mom and Kazuma would catch on. So I had to do it right.

I lied on my back and propped my upper body up on my elbows to look at the door. I pulled my legs back and tensed up every muscle I could. I had to pound the doors with as much force as possible. I hesitated for a few seconds, and then, bracing myself, I flung my legs forward.

The sound I created almost deafened me. There was an enormous bang, and the metal rang loudly as it took the impact. There was also I grating sound of tearing metal, and after a moment, the cargo doors swung wide, the latch cleanly broken into two pieces laying on the ground nearby.

I leapt out as the truck began to screech to a halt. I had to get away, _now. _It was only a matter of time until they caught up, unless I found a place to hide immediately.

I glanced behind me as I dashed to see a panicked-looking mom and Kazuma leaping out of the front seats of the truck, and running after me. I looked for the first teleported I could find.

I found a teleporter in the village, and slammed my paw on the button, leaping into the teleportation beam as quickly as I could. I didn't care where it took me; anywhere on the entire island was better than here.

I wound up in Grasstown, so I decided immediately to take refuge with Chaco. I dashed up to her small home and pounded on the door. Chaco opened it, and began to greet me, but I cut her off, begging her to let me hide inside. Sensing my urgency, she let me in, and I dashed up to the upper floor, waiting to see if anyone would arrive.

"What on Earth is going on?" Chaco asked me, concerned.

"My family found me," I answered. "I need somewhere to hide. They can't find me now."

Before Chaco said anything else, there was a knock at the door. "I'll handle it," said Chaco. "Don't worry Sue, you're safe."

She went down to the foyer and opened the door, and, to my surprise, I heard Professor Booster's voice.

"Let me in please, ma'am. I know Sue is here. I don't mean her any harm, I just wish to speak with her."

"I haven't any idea what you're talking about sir," Chaco lied skillfully in a sweet voice.

"Let him in," I called from upstairs. "He's telling the truth. Besides, he already knows I'm here. He can smell me."

Professor Booster hobbled up the stairs to face me, followed by Chaco. The first words out of his moth were, "Good Job."

"But Professor," I said. "I thought you said you wouldn't help me, should I get caught. I'm grateful, but why did you?"

"That was what I said originally." He answered. "But at the time, I didn't fully understand your feelings. But Jenka has taught me an awful lot about the workings of the soul, a science I never dabbled in before. It's hard to explain, but somehow I've come to empathize with you, Sue. I understand that life here is what you want and need, but your mother doesn't feel the same."

He glanced out the window. "By the way, your mother and brother teleported to other areas of the island, in hopes that one of us would continue to track you. Lucky I came to Grasstown, eh?"

"Very lucky," I responded. "Thank you so much for your help, Professor. But where shall I go now? They know I'm here, and they know what I look like. How can I hide?"

"Well," the Professor responded. "I hate to do this to Momorin, but I truly believe her thoughts to be in error. I can't talk her out of her quest; she won't listen to reason. So all I can do now is… well… sabotage her to aid you."

I felt tears of gratitude welling up. "You'd do that… for me?"

Booster smiled. "I'll do it because I think it's best for you, regardless of your mother's opinion."

I hugged Booster, and he hugged me back, before politely asking Chaco to show him out.

Booster was fully on my side now, but I knew my mother's efforts would only increase. How could I live normally if I was caught between worlds?


	17. The Date

I spent the night in Chaco's house again. The next morning, over breakfast, we finally discussed what had happened the night before.

"So you still haven't found a way to sort out the situation with your family?" Chaco asked. "There must be some compromise you can come to."

"There isn't," I responded gloomily. "My mom will stop at nothing to get me back. I know she won't listen to a thing I say. She couldn't possibly bring herself to believe that the change is permanent, that while I still want to be her daughter, I never want to be human and to live on the surface again."

Chaco nodded slowly. "I agree that she's being a bit irrational, but look at her side of the issue for a minute, Sue. If you had a daughter, and one day she ran away, claiming that some life completely separate of the one she grew up in was the only way she could live anymore, how would you feel? Would you be able to handle her sudden rejection of you and everything you've given her?"

That comment suddenly showed me the true scope and perspective of my mother's pain. It really hadn't been my fault that I left, since a subconscious force basically dragged me to the island, but there was no way to explain that to my mother. To her, it simply appeared that her daughter, probably in some sort of depressed, spontaneous effort, had _chosen_ to simply leave behind her loved ones and flee. At last, I realized how selfish it all must have seemed. At last, I realized my family's desperate persistence was not only to get me back; it was probably more to find out _why _I had left as well.

But if I told mom the truth, even if she believed me, she'd certainly have a hard time accepting it.

I didn't know what to do now. I couldn't avoid them forever; If I didn't reconcile things with mom eventually, I'd have to live with the guilt that through this reflection I only now realized the extent of.

Chaco appeared to notice that her comment had caused me some mental anguish, and so she hurriedly changed the topic.

"So… how are things going with your little romantic endeavor?"

I gasped. I had almost forgotten about Kanpachi. I had a date with him scheduled for a few hours from now. I quickly explained to Chaco the events of the last few weeks surrounding Kanpachi.

"We seem to be a good match. He's smart and interesting, just a little reserved, but he'll open up once he gets more comfortable with someone."

Chaco listened to how I had helped clear away Kanpachi's shyness, and how we had caught the chinfish together. She looked pleased that her advice had helped spark a relationship that worked so well.

…And we have a date in a few hours." I finished.

"Are you going to go?" Chaco asked. "I mean, with this business with your family and all, maybe you should cancel for today."

"No," I said. "I don't need to let down another important person in my life. I'm going on this date with Kanpachi, and then I'll worry about setting things right with my family. No sense in upsetting someone else."

"Then you should probably go get ready," Chaco said. "Good luck!"

"Thanks." I put the breakfast dishes in the sink, said goodbye to Chaco, and left.

I soon figured out why Chaco had told me to get ready so early. I hadn't realized just how long it took to perfectly groom all that mimiga fur. But I wanted to look my best, so I dealt with the daunting task of brushing and combing everything into place. Then I dropped by a shop and purchased a nice blue blouse and matching skirt. (I didn't even know they _made _mimiga skirts!) Looking in a mirror, I decided I looked notably better than usual, since I was generally clad in unkempt fur and an over-large blue sweater. I added a bow (still blue, I love that color) to complete the look, and then set off, just in time, to meet Kanpachi in front of the town meeting hall.

I soon saw him, rocking nervously back and forth on his heels, as he waited around for me to show up. I don't think he recognized me as I was walking toward him; he glanced in my direction but looked away again, since he was probably expecting me to show up looking how I usually did. (He in fact, looked exactly as he usually did, except for the addition of a droopy red bowtie, which somehow had an innocent, adorable affect on his overall appearance.)

"Hi Kanpachi!" I said cheerfully as I arrived next to him. Kanpachi looked, finally realized it was me, and jumped a little in surprise.

"S-Sue," he said, sizing me up quickly. "You look great! I… I guess I shoulda' dressed up a little more too…"

"Nah," I said casually, smiling. "You look just fine. The bowtie is cute."

Kanpachi blushed. "Thanks."

"So…" I asked. "Where are we going? Do you have something in mind?"

"Well… yeah," said Kanpachi. "There's another restaurant in town besides the food hall, you know. A nicer place where you sit down and order something. A lot of mimigas on…" (He struggled a bit with the next word, as if he still couldn't believe it was coming out of his mouth)

"…Dates…go there, so I thought it might be nice if we… uh…"

He trailed off. Good old nervous Kanpachi.

"That sounds wonderful," I said. "Lead the way."

I followed Kanpachi up the hill, and down a road through the village I had not taken before, and soon we found ourselves in front of a nice-looking restaurant called The Village Heights Grill. We entered and were escorted to a booth, and the both of us ordered dinner, and then we just talked while we waited.

It was a magical evening. Kanpachi and I got into many more topics than we ever had while we were fishing together. We couldn't even pause our conversation during dinner, and we ate slowly, continuing our discussion between bites. By the time dessert was served the two of us were talking and laughing about the most absurd things, as if we had know each other for years.

Finally, it was getting near closing time. Most of the other mimigas had left, and the two of us were getting ready to leave as well.

"That was great, Sue," said Kanpachi with a warm smile. "I have to admit, I was a little worried about all this; I'm not too good in some of these social situations, you know."

"Well, I think you seemed just fine tonight," I said sincerely. "We just hit it off on everything. We're really a very compatible pair."

"You think so?" he asked.

"I know so."

And like out of a movie, the two of us were leaning across the table to kiss. Although I don't think I was analyzing the cliché situation at the time; I was too involved in the moment. Our faces were only inches apart for a brief moment, and then…

"Aww, isn't this just precious!"

There was a flash and a clap of thunder, jolting the two of us apart before we actually met, and we turned to see none other than the witch Misery appear beside our booth, hovering in midair. Any remaining mimigas in the restaurant screamed and ran out. Kanpachi looked like he wanted to do the same, but Misery was floating at the end of the table, partially blocking our exit.

"What do you want, Misery?" I asked, a little miffed. "You really ruined the moment there."

"Sorry about that, Sue," Misery snickered. "It was too perfect a chance to pass up."

Kanpachi was looking from Misery to me and back again, obviously astounded that the two of us would just engage in regular conversation when we were once (and as far as he knew, still) mortal enemies.

"Anyway," Misery continued, twirling her greenish hair between her fingers. "I just thought I'd check up on how you were doing. It's been a good while now since our last bit of business was done, and you didn't come looking for me to reverse it, so I assumed it must be working out."

She glanced at Kanpachi, who clutched at the table and the booth, as if he suspected she would drag him off somewhere. "And you do seem to be doing well, Sue," she continued. "Even got yourself a boyfriend. I suppose he isn't too bad looking for a mimiga. But I wouldn't know; I'm not a mimiga."

A devilish grin appeared on her face. "In fact, I'm not sure you would know either, Sue. After all…"

I saw where this was going. I needed to get Misery to shut up and go away, now.

"No Misery," I said. "I'm quite confident in what I've decided. I don't need any of your input. Thanks for the visit, now please let us finish our date."

It wasn't going to be that easy. Misery seemed to have figured out that Kanpachi didn't know the whole truth about me. And she was taking great joy in the situation.

"What's the matter, Sue?" she asked sarcastically. "Could it be that your little friend here doesn't know who, or maybe what, you are?"

"Were," I corrected loudly. "I'm not anymore. That much is clear. Now go away."

"He doesn't know, does he?" Misery squealed deviously, completely ignoring me.

Kanpachi looked awfully confused by this point. "Sue," he asked in a tiny voice, hardly daring to take his eyes off of Misery. "What is she talking about?"

"It's… nothing," I said nervously. "Please Misery, that's all in the past. Can't you leave it at that?"

"Oh, no," Misery mused. "I think your friend here has a right to know."

"Kn-know w-what?" Kanpachi managed to ask her.

Misery grinned evilly. "Your sweetheart Sue here, isn't as much of a mimiga as you might think. She's actually a human, whom I simply turned into a mimiga."

Kanpachi's expression at that point scared me. He looked utterly horrified, and disbelieveing. He turned to look at me, staring hard as if some physical feature would give away my true identity.

"Sue…" he said, in barely more than a whisper. "…Is it true?"

"No!" I tried to hide it still, but I expect my face was giving it away. "Misery, leave us alone!"

"Tell the truth or I'll prove it for you!" Misery growled. "Tell the truth or I'll turn you back into a human right where you sit!"

I was defeated. There was nothing more I could do. I looked at Kanpachi, who stared back. I still saw the tiniest shred of hope in his face. He hoped I would deny it again, that Misery would be unable to do a thing. But I couldn't keep up the ruse anymore; it had tainted the whole situation terribly.

"…It's true." I said finally. "I was… originally… a human."

As Misery laughed victoriously, Kanpachi's expression changed to one of utmost anguish and agony. He didn't say a thing, he just stared at me with an empty expression, all emotion beyond shock and grief driven from his features.

"Kanpachi… I'm sorry… I should have said it sooner… I hoped you'd understand…"

Kanpachi rose silently, staring at me still with that terrible yet inscrutable expression. Moving smoothly and softly, like a ghost, he simply turned and walked slowly out of the restaurant.

Misery turned to me, making a fake pout. "Aww, he didn't take that too well, did he Sue?"

The attack I launched was so fast, Misery didn't even expect it, let alone attempt to dodge it. She crashed against the opposite wall from the force of my blow.

Misery scowled. "Throw your little tantrum all you want," she said. "My job is done."

In a bright flash, she teleported away, leaving me alone in the restaurant.

I just stood there, too upset to move or even cry. The relationship I had established with Kanpachi was so perfect, and just about to become more romantic, when Misery had appeared and ruined it in an instant.

Kanpachi was gone; who knows where he went. Misery had escaped, and I assumed she wouldn't let me track her down. And the only others I knew were my family, who were a problem of their own.

I didn't know what to do. I had run out of options in every direction. Every contact had become hostile.

I was alone.


	18. No more Trust

It was getting late, but I didn't care. I trudged slowly through the village, my head swimming with the events at the restaurant.

I wondered if I'd been kidding myself. Could Kanpachi ever really have liked me, trusted me, while knowing that I was once human? True, the situation was strange; how would you feel if you found out your girlfriend was a totally different species a few weeks ago? Regardless of whether it would have worked or not, it probably didn't stand a chance now; the news had been broken to Kanpachi in the worst possible way, expressed as a dirty secret through the word of an enemy. I'd even tried to deny it, so that probably made the truth even worse.

I found myself standing in front of the meeting hall; I'd walked there subconsciously. I decided to talk to Jack, since he was really the only person (other than Chaco) who had any bearing on the events between Kanpachi and me.

However, as I neared the door, I heard raised voices inside. Familiar voices.

It seemed Kanpachi had gotten here before me. I stood cautiously near the doorway and listened.

"You knew about this!" I heard Kanachi screaming. "Why didn't you tell me? I think I should have known a little sooner that my girlfriend is secretly human!"

He'd never been anywhere near brave enough to call me his girlfriend to my face. He wasn't nervous around Jack however, and it seemed he was taking his frustration out on the poor village leader.

"I… I assumed she would tell you," Jack stuttered in response. "I didn't think it… was a big deal…"

"Not a big deal?" Kanpachi yelled back. "Jack, she's a _human!_ Not only is that a bit weird for relational purposes, but it's also a species we can't really trust right now! Let's think back a year or so, shall we? Most of us were taken away and killed or transformed by the Doctor. What was he again? Oh yeah, he was HUMAN!"

Jack mumbled something in response, but I couldn't hear it from so far away. Kanpachi continued his attack.

"What am I supposed to do now, Jack? Huh? You're the one who instigated this relationship! Now it's all gone to pieces and you're just gonna…"

Kanpachi stopped. Was he at a loss for words?

"…You're the one who instigated this relationship," Kanpachi repeated quietly. "Jack… if you knew this about Sue before you even set this up, I swear I'm gonna…"

He stopped again. This time he really was at a loss. He couldn't think of a specific and horrible enough threat at that time.

"Well?" he asked suddenly, and loudly. "Did you know, Jack?"

"Erm… well… I… knew she definitely had some connection with the other humans…" Jack fumbled. "I'm… not sure you could say I was positive about anything about her really…"

"Great," said Kanpachi. "So how long until those goofy researcher friends of hers I've seen prowling about lately start plucking is from our homes and experimenting, huh?"

"I'm pretty sure those humans are harmless… I think they're related to Sue…"

"I don't care who they are! They're just more bad news for us."

Kanpachi went silent as he stood there, sulking. I had never thought he could get this angry. He spoke with a level of animation far beyond what I had seen.

"That's not it," Kanpachi said, much more quietly. "There's also the fact that one of the happiest things that has ever happened to me turned out to be a big web of lies."

I'll never forget the next conversation. It was a hard one to listen to.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"I mean…" Kanpachi said slowly. "That I actually really cared about Sue. She was the only person other than you that I got to know really well around here. If things had worked out and this hadn't happened, I'm sure I ultimately would have come to thank you for setting this up. It was a picture perfect situation; the cute girl who you fear doesn't know you exist suddenly decides to hang out with you one day, and then she turns out to be really funny and nice and shares a lot of your interests, and when you finally work up the nerve to ask her out she agrees, and just about when you're ready to finally, really be a romantic couple… you find out everything about her is a lie."

Kanpachi sobbed a little as he finished the sentence. "She… probably never actually even liked me. She probably had some other sick, twisted aim, but her plan ended a little early. I guess I should be grateful; if it had gone on, it might have gone even worse."

Kanpachi's voice continued to shake as he went on. "Imagine… probably part of another human research project… working with that witch, Misery… and that whole incident with the farm recently… she probably set that up on purpose so she could fix it and gain all our trust. It's disgusting."

He was quiet for about ten seconds. "…But the funny thing is… I still care, and that's why it hurts so badly. Sue was the one thing I had to look forward to in life, a break from the entertaining but predictable and occasionally mundane fishing I spend so much time on. She was my type, and I don't want to accept that none of it was real. It was all a sham… she was stunningly good at pretending she was perfect for me."

Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I wanted to run in and deny what Kanpachi had just said, to announce that I was honest in my attitude and I did care about him, but he would accuse me of spying (which, technically, I was) and use it to further prove his suspicions of my untruthful nature.

"I'm going home," Kanpachi said. "I hope you had fun with your little matchmaker game, Jack. I can't say I fancied how it ended."

I realized Kanpachi was headed toward the doorway I was standing near. I leapt onto the roof to avoid detection, and watched Kanpachi leave, storming away into the night and audibly crying.

I wiped the tears from my face, and waited a few minutes before dropping down and entering the meeting house myself. Jack sat, resting his head on his desk, looking miserable. He turned his eyes in my direction as I entered, but didn't lift his head up.

"Well, speak of the devil," he said. "Here's the young lady who has apparently caused a lot of grief tonight. Have you come to find some way to blame me for the incident as well?"

"No," I said. "I just… needed to talk to someone… it's been quite an evening."

"Sounds like it," Jack grunted. "Kanpachi gave me quite an earful about it already. I kind of figured you would have told him something that important a little earlier, but hey…"

"I should have," I said. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't tell me," Jack said. "Kanpachi is the one who's upset."

"I know," I said. "But… I don't know if I can make him understand, if he even wants to understand anymore. It's true, I was a human, but the operative word there is _was. _I'm a mimiga now, more than just physically. But there's no way to prove to Kanpachi that the sweet girl he fell in love with really is a caring mimiga, not a human in disguise with manipulative aims."

Jack looked at me after I said that. "You were listening from outside, weren't you?"

"…Yeah," I said. "He was already here when I arrived. I just wanted to find out his opinion on the matter. Please don't tell him."

"Tell him, and take another battering like that one?" asked Jack. "No thanks."

We were both quiet for a moment. "I'm… going to go and think about it." I said finally. "There's got to be some way to really show Kanpachi how I feel."

"Good luck with that," Jack said. "You'll need it to turn him around after something like that."

"I know I will," I responded. "I just hope I can still save it for us…somehow."

I turned and walked out of the building and into the night.


	19. Inspiration takes many forms

I didn't head back to the Egg Corridor that night. I wasn't tired, and my mind was far too full of unsettling thoughts about the past two days to consider sleeping.

Instead, I simply sat on a rock along the road in the village. It was very late, and no one was around to see me. I just sat there thinking, and eventually, the gravity of my situation finally hit me, and suddenly I started bawling.

I must have cried for five or six hours. I didn't know what to do with myself any more. The sorrow of my family and of Kanpachi hung over me, a dark veil that I could not escape. Now finally, I was losing hope. There was simply nothing left to do.

I guess morning rolled around eventually, (It's hard to tell, living in a cavern), when my all-night remorse was suddenly cut off by a familiar voice.

"Glistening Glycoproteins, Sue! Would you shut off the water works for a second and tell me what's going on?"

Only one person talked like that. I hurriedly sniffled myself into silence and looked up into the stern face of Professor Booster.

"There," he said. "That's better." He sat himself down carefully on the rock next to me. "You're lucky I'm out on an early morning walk. Your mom and brother might be coming on through here shortly. Just giving you a heads up."

I just stared at Professor Booster, still blinking away my tears. I really didn't know what to say to him. The Professor, however, seemed to be getting a lot better at analyzing people's emotions and expressions since he started regularly visiting Jenka, and he decided to try to find out a bit more.

"Sue… is something, other than having to leave your family, bothering you?"

Professor Booster probably didn't expect me to tell him everything. I know I didn't expect to tell him everything. But all of a sudden, I did. I guess I needed someone to pour out my feelings to. I told him all about Kanpachi, and most of the major events that had happened between us, spanning from our first encounter to the tragic events of last night. The Professor listened attentively; if he didn't care about what was happening in my life, he sure provided the illusion that he did.

"…And now," I said, once again stifling the tears that had flowed when I recounted that terrible evening. "I…I don't know where to go with it all! My family is frantic, searching for a daughter who desperately wants to be with them and yet knows it would only lead to despair for all involved. My date… my _former _date wants nothing to do with me anymore, and worse yet, I probably ruined his life as badly as mine was ruined! I've made everyone I care about so miserable, and there just doesn't seem to be a way to fix any of it!"

I ended my monologue and hid my face in my hands. I could feel Professor Booster staring at me, but he didn't speak immediately.

"Sue," he said finally. "There's always some way to move forward if you keep fighting for it. Back in 1968, when my archrival's discovery won him the Nobel Peace Prize, which otherwise would have gone to me, did I give up my research and walk off in a huff? No, I got right back to the lab and formulated even greater discoveries. I persevered, and ultimately, I did win that silly prize, back in the 70s, but more importantly, I became one of the most renowned scientists in the world for the sheer volume of my discoveries."

I looked at him, not entirely sure what his impressive scientific history had to do with me.

"What happened then was almost as bad," he continued. "I became so exalted among researchers that, well, I got complacent. Very complacent. I expected to be the first one informed whenever a new discovery was made or a daring expedition planned, and usually I was. And I never saw it as a bad thing until just a few weeks ago, when I walked through Jenka's door."

"Jenka?" I asked curiously. "Why? What did she do?"

"She humbled me." He answered. "Massively. And I'm incredibly grateful for it. Jenka taught me that there was a lot to this world I didn't know about after all. I thought I had become an expert on everything. But alas, I'm only an expert on a range of sadly predictable and understandable topics. The sciences are my domain, but Jenka showed me that they are not the only domain. The world of people, of emotion, of social interaction, (and I'm talking more than just about the scientific study of Sociology), it's all a world I had overlooked, and it's broader even than the scientific realm I know so well. I have so much yet to learn…"

Booster trailed off for a moment. He really had my attention, though. This was deep stuff, and I always thought of Booster as… well, shallow… which he kind of just admitted he was.

"The point is…" he picked up again. "I learned how to take advice on life from Jenka, among many other things that I couldn't possibly learn in depth in the remainder of my lifetime. And now I'm giving you advice, Sue, and I hope you can accept it as well. Remember my two stories. First, when things go badly, you mustn't give up. You can still win if you persevere, no matter how bleak the situation. And second, when things go well, remember to humble yourself. When you get complacent with your position, you must expect things will go wrong. A fall from a high and mighty pedestal hurts much more that a drop from a low, humble one."

I gazed at Professor Booster for a long time. Perhaps too long; he started to get a little uncomfortable.

"Vibrating Vesicles, Sue, stop looking at me like that!"

"Sorry," I said. "But thank you, Professor Booster. I think I know what I need to do now."

Before he could ask what that was, I leapt to my feet and strode quickly into the village. Today would be a crazy day for sure, but maybe, just maybe, if I persevered yet remained humble, just as the Professor had said, I might be able to fix things.

It wasn't likely, but there was no other option. At the very least, I had to try.


	20. The Catch of the Day

I hesitated, standing just outside the door to Arthur's House. I struggled with the decision for a few moments. If I entered now, I'd face my family face-to-face for the first time since my escape to the island. I didn't know for sure how things would go, and I might be forcibly captured and hauled off again. However, if I didn't do it, if I ran off and hid again, the problem wouldn't go away; the guilt and worry would continue to hang over me, as it had since I left, but much more powerfully in the last few days.

It wasn't much of a choice. I pushed open the door and walked inside.

Kazuma was sitting on a couch reading what appeared to be some sort of gardening magazine. He looked up as I walked in, and his expression became very surprised.

"Hi," I said, a weird sort of defiant smile on my face.

"Hi," Kazuma managed to respond, getting over the shock of me suddenly showing myself. "Um… Sue, I… you should probably talk to mom while you're here…"

"Sure," I said. "Go get her."

Kazuma looked at me a little funny, and then called for mom.

"What is it?" My mother asked as she walked in to the room, carrying a pile of freshly ironed lab coats. "We… seem to have a visitor," Kazuma said slowly, gesturing toward the doorway.

Mom looked over, stood terribly still for about five seconds, and then abruptly dropped the laundry all over the floor. She made no further motion, either to come towards me, or to pick up the scattered garments.

"Hey, mom," I said a little sheepishly. "Um… how are you?"

Mom opened her mouth but didn't respond. She closed it an opened it a few more times before she could finally speak.

"Sue? Is… is it really you?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Believe me, I'm almost as surprised I decided to show up as you are."

"Well," said mom, speaking more loudly and clearly. "Have you come to return home, then? Are you done with… this crazy adventure of yours, this… this wild goose chase you've led us on?"

"I came to talk," I said sternly. "To sort things out. Where the conversation will lead isn't relevant. Now will you please control the hysterics long enough for me to actually try to tell you what's been going on?"

"You… won't try to escape again?" Mom asked softly.

"No. I'm done with the antics. I'm done with the traps and the espionage. I just want to sit down and make all my motives perfectly clear, before either of us decide to do anything more. Is that okay with you?"

"…Yes," she answered finally, sinking slowly into a chair. "Kazuma, please go bring something for the three of us to eat."

"Gotcha," said Kazuma, jumping up and scampering into the kitchen, eager to escape the tense atmosphere for a couple of seconds. Mom and I sat silently while we waited. I couldn't face her and remain silent; I looked at the floor and I'm pretty sure she did the same.

Kazuma came back a couple minutes later with a couple of pieces of toast (It was about breakfast time anyway), a jar of jam, and, to my surprise, a couple of flowers, which he set on top of my piece before handing it to me.

"Mimiga snack," he chuckled, still trying desperately to soften the mood in the room. It didn't really work, but I appreciated his effort.

I took a bite of the toast and ate the petals off one of the flowers before facing mom again. "So," I said. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Well," said mom, who didn't appear to have any intention of eating the breakfast Kazuma had provided. "I think an initial explanation would be nice. What on Earth would posses you to abruptly leave your family and return to this place you hated?"

"I had to," I said. "I can explain everything, if you'll let me."

"Please do."

Mom recalled well enough my depressing demeanor during the months before I had fled home. I finally began to explain the story, in full, about how I felt inadvertently pulled back here, and only once I arrived did I discover that inside, I was still a mimiga at heart. I told about how I had asked Misery to transform me back, and had come to live in the village.

"So you see, mom, it has nothing to do with not wanting to be with you and Kazuma. You don't know how badly I wished that was still possible. But a human life, in a human form with human responsibilities, simply can't work for me anymore. I still want to be your daughter, but I just can't live as you want your daughter to anymore. I'm trapped on the border between two very different worlds, missing the joys of one but needing the features of the second to feel like I belong."

"That's… kinda deep Sue," said Kazuma. "But… I think I see what you mean. Mom, what do you think?"

Mom had a weird look on her face. I couldn't decipher the expression, but I had the feeling that it wasn't a good one.

"You think you're the one who can't bear a certain way of life here?" she asked softly. "Sue, you say it's been hard for you. But think how it's been for me, to have my child go to such great lengths to flee my care! I've done so much for you Sue! How could you think that you are the one hurting here as a result of the situation when you caused it? You're… just so selfish!"

"Mom, I understand that!" I desperately parried her outburst. "I know what you've had to go through, and I realized how selfish it seemed, which is why I've come back to set the story straight!"

"But you don't know what it's been like! You can't understand the sorrow I've harbored, the worry I've dealt with, trying to find you here!"

"Apparently," I retorted. "_You _can't understand what has happened inside me either, or you'd see that it was justified!"

"Well, we'll fix that right up!" Mom answered. "I changed your body back to its human form, and I can change your mind back as well. I'm sure there's just some biochemical reaction in the brain that didn't convert back to its human version, a few tweaks to the transformer will fix that. And then you will be ready to come back with us and we can put this whole messy business into the past where it belongs!"

This, of course, wouldn't work out, but I couldn't explain that to mom now. She couldn't see past the scientific side of things. A few weeks ago, Professor Booster was the same way, but Jenka had managed to open his eyes. At least he had come out of all this with some significant discovery.

I had no choice at this point. I could only do what the Professor said; take the bad situation in stride and persevere. I would do it my mom's way, and try to learn to cope with it. I knew she could never really change me back on the inside; powerful magic had done that and I doubted any amount of science could undo it. At the moment, there was no other way; I had to go along with what mom wanted, until maybe someday I could convince her otherwise.

"Alright, mom," I said. "You win. I'll go. But first just let me…"

"Oh no!" Mom interrupted. "You're not leaving now."

"But I'll be back! I just need to…"

"It won't work, Sue," she said coldly. "Do you think I'm stupid? You realized you lost the verbal battle, so now you're simply trying to escape again rather than oblige with me."

I'll admit that's kind of what it looked like. But honestly, I wasn't planning to escape. I just had to confront the other mess I'd made before leaving the island. I had to apologize to Kanpachi.

"Mom, please…" I pleaded. "I'll come back. I just need to clear up one last matter. You've got to believe me."

"Well, I don't," my mother answered. "We're packing immediately and heading off this floating rock."

"But… But…"

"Let the girl go, Momorin," came a voice.

Mom, Kazuma and I all turned to face the doorway, where Professor Booster was standing.

"Professor," my mother answered, a little surprised at his request. "How can you trust her? I mean, after what's happened…"

"Yes, Momorin, from all logical points of view it seems a bad idea to let her go. But perhaps you need to look beyond the logic for a moment and consider the sincerity of your child's request."

Mom flinched as if Booster had just punched her. "Professor, where has all this been coming from? You haven't been acting at all yourself these past few weeks."

"I know," the Professor answered. "Momorin, I actually didn't return to this island to help you find your daughter. That was just an excuse. I returned for much the same reason as Sue, to settle an internal conflict of sorts. I've found the answers to my inner worries as well during my time here."

"You're all acting like this now?" Mom asked incredulously. "Kazuma… please… will you back me up here?"

Kazuma looked uncomfortable, but he shook it off and faced his mother sternly.

"Mom, I agree with the Professor. I think we should let Sue go. I can't explain why, but you know, sometimes you don't need to explain."

Mom looked at Kazuma in defeat. "Fine," she said. "Go do whatever final errand is so important to you. But we're following along."

"That sounds reasonable," I said. "I need to settle things with someone. The mimiga down at the reservoir."

Professor Booster's goggles glinted knowingly, and I set off for the reservoir, followed closely behind by mom and Kazuma. Professor Booster called after us that he would catch up, and returned to the house for something.

There was silence as we walked down the rough path toward the reservoir. I could feel mom's eyes burning into me from behind, but I didn't look back at her. She could wait; I'd settled her problem. Now, it was Kanpachi's turn, and though it could very well go equally as bad, it still needed to be done. Kanpachi deserved something from me after what had happened.

We reached the end of the tunnel, and I could see Kanpachi, sitting on the dock a few dozen yards away as usual. I asked my family to wait there, and slowly approached the other mimiga.

My soft footsteps on the wooden dock behind him were easily detected by his acute hearing. He swiveled his torso to look at me, his face expressionless.

"What?" he asked churlishly after a minute, turning back to his fishing.

"Um, so, catch anything good today, Kanpachi?" I asked, not really expecting an answer to that question.

"Look, Sue," he said, not facing me. "Cut to the chase, or go away, alright?"

"Alright," I said. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened last night. I… I know I should have said something a lot sooner…"

Kanpachi snorted. "You think? Maybe it should have been something more along the lines of _not _trying to start a relationship with me, since it turns out we're totally different species."

"We're not!" I said. "Have you looked at me lately, Kanpachi? True, the past doesn't agree, but right now, I'm definitely a mimiga! Look, I've got my floppy ears, and my white fur, and…"

"Yeah, big deal," said Kanpachi, still not turning around. "You still have a human mind, and lots of human experiences under your belt. You're working with those other humans, the ones who came to the dock looking for you that one day. So, since I don't really feel like being the next test subject in your _disguise-myself-as-a-mimiga-to-win-the-trust-of-others-so-I-can-lure-them-into-my-trap _plan of yours, I'm going to have to say goodbye and good riddance to you."

"I'm not trying to lure you in to a trap!" I exclaimed. "I was doing it because I actually _care _about you, Kanpachi!"

"That's nice," said Kanpachi nonchalantly. "Now go away, I'm very…"

Kanpachi didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Something so huge caught the other end of his fishing line that it unreeled instantly and pulled Kanpachi into the air behind it with no effort at all. Kanpachi screamed as he flew through the air and occasionally skipped off the water's surface, hanging on to the rod for dear life as he was pulled all around the reservoir by something that was clearly many times bigger than he was.

As I watched in horror, mom and Kazuma came running up, obviously noticing that something was wrong. As we watched, a gargantuan fish, 20 times Kanpachi's size, leapt up from the water, pulling Kanpachi higher into the air with it. It was a monstrous beast, and for some reason it wore a helmet of some greenish metal over its upper face.

"The Ironhead!" Kazuma announced. We all turned to look at him in surprise. "Quote told me about it when we met in the Egg Corridor before he headed up to the plantation to rescue you guys. He mentioned fighting a huge fish with an iron helmet in the island's artery. I think this is that fish!"

"We gotta do something!" I yelled. "Kanpachi's gonna get killed!"

"What can we do?" Kazuma asked. "That thing's huge!"

"We can do anything with enough willpower!" I responded. To demonstrate, I waited until the fish shot near the shore, and then leapt into the air, grabbing on to Kanpachi's waist. Unfortunately, the doubled weight didn't even slow the fish down, and so it began to pull the two of us through the air behind it.

"No!" I heard my mother cry from the shore. "Sue! What is wrong with you?"

"I was about to ask you that myself!" Kanpachi said as the two of us flapped in the breeze behind the monster like a living flag. "Why on Earth would you do that? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No!" I yelled back. "I'm trying to stop you from getting killed."

Kanpachi didn't answer. I didn't blame him. Hanging on for dear life took quite enough concentration.

The next time I got a clear view of the shore, I was surprised to see to figures emerging from the tunnel to the village. Professor Booster _and _Jenka were hurrying toward the water's edge as fast as their elderly legs would carry them.

"Professor!" Mom cried. "Help! We've got to find a way to help Sue and that other mimiga!"

"Don't worry Momorin," Booster said. "I've got just the thing for this." He turned to Jenka. "Will you help me?" he asked. "Of course," she said. "We've got to help them. They're in grave danger out there."

Professor Booster nodded, and from his lab coat he drew what looked like some kind of harpoon gun. "Taste the power of science!" he cried, and from the device he fired an electrified spear. The weapon hurtled through the air, and jabbed straight through the scales on the fish's side.

An enormous electrical current pulsed through the creature, stopping it almost immediately. Luckily, not enough energy traveled up the fishing rod to give Kanpachi and I more than a small shock. (Thank goodness it wasn't made of metal.)

The stunned fish came to a halt, and Kanpachi and I finally splashed down into the lake next to it. Professor Booster turned to Jenka and gestured toward the fish.

"Your turn."

Jenka held up her tiny, gnarled staff, and a magical energy surrounded Ironhead, Kanpachi, and myself. We were all lifted in to the air and carried magically to shore, to the astonishment of mom and Kazuma. (But not the Professor, interestingly.)

I coughed for a few moments, but I was able to stand. Kanpachi, however, seemed to have fainted. Since my mom and Booster were busy fussing over me, Kazuma tended to Kanpachi, to make sure he was okay as well.

"Sue! What on Earth were you thinking?" mom asked me. "You could have died pulling a stunt like that."

"But I saved Kanpachi," I said. "If my weight hadn't been added, Kanpachi would have been thrown around more violently. He would have lost consciousness earlier, and then been eaten by Ironhead or drowned."

Mom and Booster were about to ask me something else, when they were suddenly interrupted by Jenka.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I wondered if I might have a word with the girl alone?"

"Of course," mom answered. "You helped to save her. Thank you… uh…"

"Call me Jenka," the old woman answered. "And I shall just be a second."

Jenka took me aside, while the others continued to look over the passed-out Kanpachi.

"That was a dangerous little stunt you pulled there, dear," Jenka said. Then she smiled warmly. "You must really care about that little friend of yours."

"I do," I answered. "I've never felt the same way for anyone that I feel about Kanpachi. I just wish he still felt that way about me."

"Oh, I wouldn't say he doesn't," said Jenka. "He just… doesn't realize it right now."

I looked at her puzzled, but she just laughed.

"Listen dear, if it makes you feel any better, I'll tie up the loose ends on the mimiga spell my daughter cast on you. You'll really, fully, be a mimiga in every aspect if you like."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "Would I still, you know, love my family and all? I don't want my connection broken with anyone!"

"No, no, no, that's not it," said Jenka. "Your mind and emotions will remain unchanged. No one will ever know the difference, except you, and even that may take time."

"Well, I'm not sure it matters," I said. "My mom is planning to take me away after this anyway."

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that either," said Jenka, laughing at my dumbfounded expression. "Things like this have a way of working out. Now do you want me to patch up my daughter's shoddy handiwork, or not?"

"Yes, Please," I answered. Jenka motioned for me to hold out my hands, which I did, and she placed her palms on mine. I felt a warm sort of energy flow between us briefly, but didn't feel any remarkable difference at all. When she had finished, Jenka smiled and motioned for me to join the others, who seemed to be succeeding at waking up Kanpachi.

I knelt next to Kanpachi as the others looked on from above. Kanpachi finally opened his eyes. "That… was a really big fish," he finally managed to say.

I sighed in relief; he was okay, just a bit shaken up. He got to his feet after a few moments, looked at the fish, and then turned and looked at me.

"You… you probably saved my life there, Sue. Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me," I said. "I had to help. A situation like that was really dangerous."

Kanpachi looked long and hard at me. "So… you actually risked your life to save me? This wasn't all staged?"

"Of course it wasn't staged!" I laughed. "Look at that thing! That's no prop. That's a large and dangerous fish."

Ironhead confirmed this by gasping and flapping his fins helplessly.

"Then… maybe you really do care about me?" Kanpachi asked slowly. "And… maybe you really…"

He trailed off and stared at the floor. I changed the subject.

"So, I guess he's the catch of the day, huh? I mean, if you caught something better before I got here, I'd sure like to see it."

"He's not the catch of the day," said Kanpachi. "I caught something much better today."

I grinned disbelievingly. "And what's that?"

Kanpachi turned and looked at me, and a smile crept across his face.

"Forget the fish, Sue. You're the catch of the day."

And he was kissing me. I didn't instigate it, and it didn't just sort of happen like when we were in the restaurant. It was completely his decision. Naturally, I was shocked, but obviously I didn't resist. I didn't know or care what expressions were on the faces or what thoughts were in the heads of my friends and family standing nearby. All I knew was that I had never been so happy as I was at that moment.

We separated. Kanpachi looked a little thrown-for-a-loop; I think he was more surprised that he kissed me than I was. But we were both grinning and blushing, not to mention giggling a little.

I finally turned to look at the others. Booster and Jenka were grinning and whispering to each other. Kazuma looked quite shocked, but he gave me a weird grin and a thumbs up. Mom's expression was harder to discern.

"Sue," she said. "I… didn't realize what… what was going on between…"

She couldn't seem to finish her sentence. Eventually she sighed.

"You know what, Sue? I need to pursue some new research topics anyway. How about I pack up my stuff and we all live on the island for awhile?"

Both Kazuma and I practically knocked mom over, as we ran to her to agree and thank her. In the background I heard Booster mention something about staying as well. I glanced in his direction and caught him and Jenka sharing a quick kiss of their own. It looked like the professor had more than the pursuit of new knowledge to look forward to on this island.

But while mom and Kazuma, Booster and Jenka all talked about the big upcoming plans, I wandered back over to where Kanpachi was standing, still eyeing up his gigantic trophy fish.

"So… you're okay with it now? I'm mimiga enough for you?"

"I didn't believe that one who was once human could ever really, fully be a mimiga," Kanpachi said. "But you've changed my mind today, Sue. You're more than mimiga enough for me."

He gave me another peck on the cheek and said what I'd been waiting to hear from him for weeks.

"I love you, Sue."

I pulled him into a great big hug, and he happily hugged me back.

"I love you too."

_**THE END**_

**Author's Note: Good gravy, that was really off with my usual writing mood! (And that last few sentences were waaaay too cliche', but I digress...) Anyway, this concludes the story. I hope you all enjoyed it and continue to review. I'm thinking about starting a sequel some time after Christmas, (Still from Sue's point of view, but perhaps involving the return of Quote, Curly, and Balrog), but I'll only write that if I get some requests for it in the reviews. If there's no demand for one, I'll leave it at this.**

**Thank you for reading, I know I had fun writing so I sincerely hope you all liked the ending!**


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